May 4, 1968 Tsunami: Easter Island Region, Chile
A tsunami of unknown cause began at Easter Island Region, Chile on May 4, 1968. 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
The tsunami
- Date
- May 4, 1968
- Source
- Easter Island Region, Chile
- Cause
- Unknown
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Probable tsunami
- Source location
- 27.150° S, 109.450° W
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.
According to Captain Guillermo Blanco, Captain of the Port of Hanga Piko, Easter Island, a tsunami occurred on May 4. Tremendous waves hit the island, virtually destroying the port, including the tide station. Captain Blanco submitted a report to the Valparaiso (tide) office, but apparently someone thought the figures were in error as the correct figures were not sent out of Valparaiso. Messages of noteworthy events were sent by radio to Valparaiso, then to Santiago, to Balboa, and then to Hawaii.
The SISRA earthquake database (for South America) shows earthquakes occurring in the month of May, 1968, but it is unclear what might have caused the tsunami.
There were two sources to this event. One source was six pictures of the port after devastation, taken by Kendall Svendsen of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey on May 20, 1968. These were accompanied by text descriptions. The other source is page 102 photocopied from an unknown report, probably authored by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. This piece of paper was in a folder with the pictures. Thus the reference record is incomplete.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easter Island | Chile | 0 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1968The 1900sTsunamis of ChileThis 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 2878.