March 6, 1938 Tsunami: Solomon Sea, Papua New Guinea

Reference #414:

1938, March 7 1 1/2 hr (15:30 on the 6th). Validity 1. The tide gauge at Honolulu registered waves with a period of 30 minutes and a range of oscillations of 4-5 cm (1.5-2 inches); the epicenter of the earthquake and tsunami was situated 8 S., 165 E., in the region of the Solomon Islands (Neumann, 1940; Iida et al., 1967). ISS: 6.III; 16h50m+; epicenter on the south of the Pacific (not established from available data). [Neumann's data are doubtful]

Reference #236:

1938, March 6, 01:56. Waves of 0.04 to 0.05-m height were reported recorded at Honolulu beginning on March 6 at 3:30 P.M. (Neumann, 1940. p. 33). This event has been

associated with an earthquake in the South Pacific on March 6, but this seems unlikely. The only earthquake on this date large enough to be reported in the International

Seismological Summary (Jan.-Mar. 1938, p. 94) occurred on March 6 at 01:56 UTC in the New Britain region. Waves from that source would have arrived around midnight, March 5-6 local time. Iida et al. (1967) correctly give the arrival time of the wave as 3:30 P.M., but give the date as March 7. Pararas-Carayannis and Calebaugh (1977) give the correct date, but give both the earthquake origin time and the wave arrival time as 3:30 P.M. Soloviev and Go (1974, p. 309) quote a date of March 7, 01:30 UTC as the standard time for the wave's arrival in Hawaii rather than the correct 02:00 UTC. They suggest a possible association with a small South Pacific earthquake of March 6 at 4:55 P.M., which the observatory at Pasadena. California. believed to have a focal depth of 400 km making it an unlikely source

for a tsunami. This is a doubtful tsunami.

(Pararas-Carayannis and Calebaugh, 1977, p.

23)