April 18, 1896 Tsunami: Timor Island, Indonesia
A tsunami caused by an earthquake began at Timor Island, Indonesia on April 18, 1896. It killed 250 people, counting the earthquake or eruption that caused it.
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
The tsunami
- Date
- April 18, 1896
- Source
- Timor Island, Indonesia
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Very doubtful tsunami
- Source location
- 8.250° S, 124.750° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 250 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- Many (101 to 1,000) 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.
1896 April 18. Timor Is., Alor. (reference #4659).
Reference #12916 lists the event with reference #4659 as citation.
Reference #12633 indicates no tsunami.
More
Every tsunami in 1896The 1800sTsunamis of IndonesiaThis 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 5937.