April 30, 1939 Tsunami: Solomon Islands

Name: April 30, 1939 Tsunami: Solomon Islands
Start: 1939-04-30
Location: Solomon Islands

April 30, 1939 · 10.5 m · 12 deaths · Probable tsunami

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.9 earthquake began at Solomon Islands on April 30, 1939 at 02:55:29 UTC. The water rose as high as 10.5 meters. Its effects were recorded at 8 places in at least 2 countries. It killed 12 people, counting the earthquake or eruption that caused it.

Where the waves reached

The source (white) and every runup with a place, colored by the water height recorded there. A ring is a runup NCEI marks doubtful.

Under 1 m
1 to 3 m
3 to 10 m
10 to 30 m
30 m and more
Height not recorded

Tsunami warnings in force

The tsunami

Date: April 30, 1939, 02:55:29 UTC
Source: Solomon Islands
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: Magnitude 7.9, 35 km deep
Maximum water height: 10.5 m (34.4 ft)
Runups recorded: 8
Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura): 1.5
Tsunami magnitude (Iida): 3.4
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Probable tsunami
Source location: 9.295° S, 159.234° E

The toll

Deaths: 12
Damage: Limited (under about $1 million); Moderate (about $1 to $5 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Houses destroyed: Few (about 1 to 50); Some (about 51 to 100) 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 #414:

1939, April 30, 02:55:39 UTC [13:56 local time]. Validity 3. There was a strong earthquake on the Solomon Islands. The shocks lasted several days. Guadalcanal was one of the islands most seriously affected. A number of buildings were damaged there. Buildings were damaged on Santa Isabel Island, and buildings and moorages were damaged in the region of Cape Marsh (Russell Islands). On Savo Island, visible surface fractures appeared. The earthquake was followed by a tsunami, which flooded a number of villages. Nine children and three adolescents drowned.

Gutenberg, Richter (1954) : 30.1V; 2h55m306; 10.5 S.,

158.5 E.; 50 km; M=8. [The instrumental data on the earthquake do not fully agree with the macroseismic data.]

Reference #99:

1939, April 30. 12 drowned at Russel Island, Guadalcanal. At Au village [Gasmata] the sea washed under the houses, the rise in level being about five feet. The disturbance lasted one hour. Other coastal villages reported similar waves. Perhaps the best illustration of this protection afforded by reefs, island, projecting headlands or shallow areas is the way in which the tsunami which destroyed Lavoro Plantation House in 1939 and reached a measured height of 35 feet on the shores of Beaufort Bay, yet caused no damage whatever at Visale Mission on the same coast, a few miles to the northward, and was only about six feet high along the north coast of Guadalcanal.

Reference #79:

1939, April 30, 02:56 UTC. 10.5 N (typo should be S), 158.5 E, depth 50 km, magnitude 8.0. Tsunami source Solomon sea. Tsunami observations: Solomon Islands: Russel Is, Guadalcanal. 12 drowned.

Every runup

Nearest the source first. Heights are above sea level at the time; a tide gauge reads half the wave’s full height.

Where	Country	Km from source	Water height, m	Measured by	Deaths
Russell Islands	Solomon Islands	27		Eyewitness observation of water height	12
Beaufort Bay, Guadalcanal	Solomon Islands	60	10.5	Eyewitness observation of water height
North Coast of Guadalcanal	Solomon Islands	62	1.8	Eyewitness observation of water height
Tulagi Harbour, Tulaghi Island	Solomon Islands	102	0.6	Eyewitness observation of water height
Misima Island	Papua New Guinea	731		Eyewitness observation of water height
Panaeati Island	Papua New Guinea	768		Eyewitness observation of water height
Rabaul, New Britain	Papua New Guinea	961		Eyewitness observation of water height
Gasmata, New Britain	Papua New Guinea	1,037	1.5	Eyewitness observation of water height

Every tsunami in 1939 The 1900s Tsunamis of Solomon Islands The earthquake This day in weather history Alerts 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 1733.