June 27, 1953 Tsunami: Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
A tsunami caused by a volcano began at Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea on June 27, 1953. Its effects were recorded at 1 place.
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
Travel times
How long the first wave took to reach each part of the ocean, one line for each hour up to 24, estimated from the source and the depth of the sea.
The travel times are computed in your browser, which needs JavaScript.
- 1 to 4 hours
- 5 to 6 hours
- 7 to 14 hours
- 15 hours and more
Computed in your browser the way NOAA’s own travel time maps are: the wave travels at the square root of gravity times the depth, over NOAA’s ETOPO1 depths averaged to a 10 arc-minute grid. Checked against NOAA NCEI’s maps for 21 tsunamis over the first 24 hours, these lines fall within 10 minutes of NCEI’s at half the points compared and within 52 minutes at 9 in 10. They give when the first wave could arrive, not how high it is; bays, harbors and island chains finer than the grid can see it later. Not for use in a warning: see tsunami.gov.
The tsunami
- Date
- June 27, 1953
- Source
- Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
- Cause
- Volcano
- Volcano
- The eruption that caused it
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 1
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- 0.5
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Probable tsunami
- Source location
- 2.400° S, 147.400° E
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
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:
1953, June 27, validity 3. A clearly audible noise heralded an underwater eruption in Saint Andrew Channel. Soon afterwards, puffs of smoke became visible as they rose above the water surface at a point 2/3 of the way
from Saluan Island to Lou Island. A small tsunami arose, which did only slight damage to a number of canoes on Pom-Mandrian Island. This was the extent of the losses caused by the eruption. The preliminary seismic activity was so negligible in intensity, that the shocks passed unnoticed by the population of the surrounding islands. During the eruption, seismic activity perceptible without instruments was also negligible, both with regard to the intensity of shocks, as well as their frequency. The correlation between the tremors and the explosions in the crater was obvious.
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 | Inland, m | Measured by | First wave, UTC | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pom Mandrian Island | Papua New Guinea | 11 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1953The 1900sTsunamis of Papua New GuineaThe eruptionThis 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 1838.