January 17, 1899 Tsunami: Northern Australia

Name: January 17, 1899 Tsunami: Northern Australia
Start: 1899-01-17
Location: Northern Australia

January 17, 1899 · 1.8 m · Very doubtful tsunami

A tsunami caused by an earthquake began at Northern Australia on January 17, 1899. The water rose as high as 1.8 meters. 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

Tsunami warnings in force

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 17, 1899
Source: Northern Australia
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: The earthquake
Maximum water height: 1.8 m (5.9 ft)
Runups recorded: 1
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Very doubtful tsunami
Source location: 12.400° S, 130.700° 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.

South Australia, Adelaide, February 1. A shock of earthquake was felt at Port Darwin and Port [Point] Charles on the morning of the 29th ult. At the latter place a tidal wave over 6ft. high was noticed. (reference #7435)

The Postmaster-General informs us that the Port Darwin officer reports that a shock of earthquake was felt there, also at Port Charles Lighthouse in the early morning of January 29th. A tidal wave of 6 ft. was noticed at Port Charles at 7 p.m. on January 17. (reference #14295)

Note: earthquake associated in text has a date of 29 January while tsunami is on 17 January.

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
Point Charles	Australia	8	1.8		Eyewitness observation of water height

Every tsunami in 1899 The 1800s Tsunamis of Australia The earthquake This day in weather history Alerts 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 4862.