September 19, 1902 Tsunami: Kangaroo Island, Australia
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6 earthquake began at Kangaroo Island, Australia on September 19, 1902 at 10:34 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
- September 19, 1902, 10:34 UTC
- Source
- Kangaroo Island, Australia
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 6
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Probable tsunami
- Source location
- 35.000° S, 138.000° E
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses damaged
- 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.
No fewer than five earthquake shocks have been felt in the district of Dudley. The first occurred at about 8 p.m. on Friday, September 19, and it seems to have been the severest. Two other shocks were felt during the next two hours. One followed about 4 a.m., September 20, and a slight one was experienced at about 8 p.m. on Sunday. Friday's shock was preceded by a tremendous noise on the south coast, which was caused, so it is inferred from the numerous accounts received, by a tremendous seawave rushing with great force on the south coast. Mr. Antoine Ebert says the sea was terrific […] Captain Littlely, of the ketch Young Foster, experienced the shock out at sea on Friday night while sailing near the Horseshoe. Those on board thought the boat had struck a rock, so put farther out to sea. All day Saturday reports like those of distant guns were heard to the south- west of the island. (reference #14315)
More
Every tsunami in 1902The 1900sTsunamis 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 6145.