January 26, 1892 Tsunami: Tasman Sea, Australia
A tsunami caused by an earthquake began at Tasman Sea, Australia on January 26, 1892 at 16:48 UTC.
Where the waves reached
The source of the tsunami. No runup with a place is recorded for it.
- Under 1 m
- 1 to 3 m
- 3 to 10 m
- 10 to 30 m
- 30 m and more
- Height not recorded
Travel times
How long the first wave took to reach each part of the ocean, one line for each hour up to 24, estimated from the source and the depth of the sea.
The travel times are computed in your browser, which needs JavaScript.
- 1 to 4 hours
- 5 to 6 hours
- 7 to 14 hours
- 15 hours and more
Computed in your browser the way NOAA’s own travel time maps are: the wave travels at the square root of gravity times the depth, over NOAA’s ETOPO1 depths averaged to a 10 arc-minute grid. Checked against NOAA NCEI’s maps for 21 tsunamis over the first 24 hours, these lines fall within 10 minutes of NCEI’s at half the points compared and within 52 minutes at 9 in 10. They give when the first wave could arrive, not how high it is; bays, harbors and island chains finer than the grid can see it later. Not for use in a warning: see tsunami.gov.
The tsunami
- Date
- January 26, 1892, 16:48 UTC
- Source
- Tasman Sea, Australia
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- The earthquake
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Very doubtful tsunami
- Source location
- 40.400° S, 149.500° E
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Reference #14032:
The following day, the observatory at Hobart issued the following communique:
“Communications have been .received from a large number of places respecting the extraordinary earth tremor of yesterday morning. Most of the accounts state the time at which the shock was felt to have been 2.50 a.m., but a few give 2.35 and 2.45 as the time for the first shock. In some cases several shocks were felt; in others remarkable local disturbances and extraordinary noises were noticed. At Boobyalla the shock or tremor (for it is variously described) was accompanied by the sound of rushing water, while a heavy surf broke on the bar when the tremor passed. The first tremor occurred at 2.53 a.m., and was followed by a lighter one at 3 a.m. At St. Mary's two shocks were noticed at an interval of eight minutes, while at Emu Bay three shocks were felt. At Swansea a similar noise was noticed to that at Boobyalla. At Scottsdale and Gould's Country the tremor is described as the most severe that has ever been experienced..., Among other places, the tremor was felt at Emu Bay, Low Head, Launceston, Boobyalla, St. Mary's, Swansea, Scottsdale, Falmouth, Oatlands, Fingal, Deloraine, Avoca, Carnarvon, Eaglehawk Neck, Glenora, New Town, and Hobart, where in one instance in Goulburn-street the flower pots in a house were thrown down with such violence that one of them was smashed.. The tremor was also felt at Zeehan and Strahan. From these advices it will readily be seen that this earth tremor was fairly general throughout the island. [The Mercury, 28 January 1892 p3]”
It should be noted that with the shock occurring early in the morning, the date of the event was 26 January UTC, but 27 January local time.
More
Every tsunami in 1892The 1800sTsunamis of AustraliaThe earthquakeThis day in weather historyAlerts in force
Sources
Tsunami events and runups from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI tsunami event 1194.