March 31, 1926 Tsunami: Cook Islands

We found the island completely devastated by the hurricane

and tidal wave which struck it during the forenoon of

31 March. (Ref #8699)March (16) or May 12, 1926. (The dates are very uncertain). There were tidal waves on Palmerston Is. Only one person perished, but all buildings except a church were washed away, and the population, numbering 100 people, were left without shelter and belongings and with very little to exist on. It was most likely a storm-generated wave, although there were attempts to connect it with an earthquake on the Tonga Islands on March 16, 1926, at 17:37:20 UTC, 16.5 S, 171 W, magnitude 6. (Ref #415)

March 16, 1927, 17:37:20 UTC, 16.5 S, 171 W, magnitude 6. (Ref #130)

March 16, 1926. (Date uncertain; report on June 30 says occurrence was about three months earlier.) Earthquake of date named was at 16 deg S, 171 deg W, and was apparent cause of tidal wave which swept over Palmerston Island (19 S, 162 W). Island submerged and natives lost their means of sustenance. (Ref #132)

March 16, 1926. 17:37. A magnitude 6.0 earthquake occurred in the Tonga Islands on this date. Heck (ref #132) reports that a tidal wave had swept over Palmerston Is. about 250 km from Apia which had devastated the island. The reported wave was said to have occurred about 3 months prior to June 30. The tide records from Apia are available, but did not record a tsunami (Ref #79, 415, 337). The effects at Palmerston may have been due to earlier hurricanes in the area. Evidence of a tsunami being recorded in Samoa for this event is not available, and one would not be expected from an earthquake so small. (Ref #236)

March 16, 1926, 17:32 UTC, 16.5 S, 171 W, magnitude 6, shallow depth, generating area was Samoa, tsunami observed at Palmerston Is, Cook Is. Tidal wave swept over island. Heck (Ref #132) cites a report of 30 June that incident occurred about 3 months earlier. He associates it with quake indicated. There is, however, no Samoa report of a tsunami and no evidence of one on the Apia tide gauge. Keys (1975) suggests connection with a storm centered 15 miles N. of Apia on 1 January. (Ref #79)

The Sheffield Telegraph of Aug 10, 1926, tells of a tidal wave on Palmerston Island, about 300 miles northwest of Raratonga, probably on May 12, 1926. Only one life was lost, but all the buildings excepting the church were swept away, and the population, about 100 in number, were left without homes and property, and with only very scant means of sustenance. (Ref #3905)

Wellington, New Zealand, Thursday [May 13, 1926]. The Governor-General, Sir Charles Ferguson, who is visiting Cook and other islands in the Pacific, has sent a wireless message that a destructive tidal wave, probably the result of a submarine volcanic disturbance, swept over Palmerston Island and several adjacent islets, doing much damage. One life was lost. Judge Ayson, Resident Commissioner of the Cook islands, reported that the settlement on Palmerston Island was wrecked. Only the church and one house remain, and both of these are much damaged. ... The people of adjacent islands are reported to be in even a worse state. (Ref #8695)

...Lady Alice Fergusson, wife of the Governor-General of New Zealand begins in the English "Review" for April an account of the discovery of the little community of 83 souls who had just been left destitute by the effects of a tidal wave... He [William Marsters] unfolded the tale of disaster. A hurricane followed by a tidal wave had destroyed all the houses save one; stores, possessions, all were washed away, and for six weeks the community had been living exclusively on fish and coconuts... Only one life had been lost. The rest had saved themselves by running up a hill... Piles of debris littered the beach. What had been houses were mere masses of wreckage ... The church had been carried bodily a distance of about fifty yards, and was now standing complete, but at a curious slant, wedged tightly between two palms. (Ref #8696)