December 3, 1914 Tsunami: Ambon Island, Indonesia
A tsunami of unknown cause began at Ambon Island, Indonesia on December 3, 1914.
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
- December 3, 1914
- Source
- Ambon Island, Indonesia
- Cause
- Unknown
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Questionable tsunami
- Source location
- 3.700° S, 128.200° 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.
On December 3, 1914 at 22:30 [local time] the ship "Baud", riding at the moorage at Ambon, was suddenly carried 20 m away from the moorage, and the bollard, on which the end of the rope was wound, was ripped up together with its foundation. Looking overboard, the captain established that a powerful current was passing under the moorage, from the shore to sea. We estimated its speed at 6 knots. This continued for about 20 minutes, and its only further result was that the hose with which the ship was pumping its fresh water was broken. The cause of this current according to the captain, could have been an earthquake or a landslide. (reference #414)
More
Every tsunami in 1914The 1900sTsunamis 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 1421.