August 18, 1895 Tsunami: Lake Taupo, North Island, New Zealand
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6 earthquake and a landslide began at Lake Taupo, North Island, New Zealand on August 18, 1895 at 06:57 UTC. Its effects were recorded at 1 place.
Where the waves reached
The source (white) and every runup with a place, colored by the water height recorded there. A ring is a runup NCEI marks doubtful.
- 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
- August 18, 1895, 06:57 UTC
- Source
- Lake Taupo, North Island, New Zealand
- Cause
- Earthquake and landslide
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 6, 12 km deep
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 38.800° S, 176.000° E
The toll
The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this tsunami.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Reference #5324:
1895, August 18, 6:57. A small wave, 0.6 m, was observed following a magnitude M~6 shallow earthquake 18 on August 1895, which was probably centred south of Taupo settlement and very close to or under Lake Taupo. Given that earthquakes in the Taupo Volcanic Zone can be very shallow, and fault rupture has occurred in historical time from earthquakes with magnitudes as low as MW6.5 and in swarms in which the largest magnitudes are low magnitude 5s, it is possible that earthquake was shallow enough to cause a small amount of deformation. However, the large and numerous landslides that fell into the lake that occurred within 10 km of the settlement are more than obvious sources. Sub-lake slumps are also possible.
Every runup
Nearest the source first. Heights are above sea level at the time; a tide gauge reads half the wave’s full height.
| Where | Country | Km from source | Water height, m | Inland, m | Measured by | First wave, UTC | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taupo | New Zealand | 14 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1895The 1800sTsunamis of New ZealandThe 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 5512.