November 19, 1933 Tsunami: Vanuatu Islands
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake began at Vanuatu Islands on November 19, 1933 at 03:11:25 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
The tsunami
- Date
- November 19, 1933, 03:11:25 UTC
- Source
- Vanuatu Islands
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 6.4, 35 km deep
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Probable tsunami
- Source location
- 16.895° S, 167.776° E
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.
Earthquakes were felt on Malekula Island. One of them, on 19 November, was strong enough to damage the church and other buildings at Lamap, southern Malekula. Following these shocks, the southern coast of Makekula, at least the region from Assouk to Port Ravallec, subsided about 0.3– 0.4 m. It is also reported that the subsidence was accompanied by a small tsunami (Louat and Baldassari, 1989). (reference #13893)
More
Every tsunami in 1933The 1900sTsunamis of VanuatuThe 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 5966.