1918 Tsunami: Iceland
A tsunami caused by a volcano began at Iceland in 1918.
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
- 1918
- Source
- Iceland
- Cause
- Volcano
- Volcano
- The eruption that caused it
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Very doubtful tsunami
- Source location
- 63.630° N, 19.050° W
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million) 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.
Reference #329 provided a validity 4 tsunami generated by volcano. No other details provided.
It is possible that reference #329 refers to Katla eruption of 12 October 1918 to 04 November 1918. (reference #10953). The 1918 Katla eruption did not generate a tsunami but did generate a jokulhlaup which may have been confused with a tsunami.
The greatest loss of livestock in a jokulhlaup may, however, have been in 1918 when several hundred sheep were lost. (reference #12033)
The eruption lasted for 3 weeks, spreading tephra widely over surrounding areas. Sheep and horses were swept away by the jokulhlaup and many people narrowly escaped. (reference #12034)
More
Every tsunami in 1918The 1900sTsunamis of IcelandThe eruptionAlerts 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 1452.