August 10, 1988 Tsunami: Solomon Islands
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake began at Solomon Islands on August 10, 1988 at 04:38:29 UTC. The water rose as high as 0.09 meters. Its effects were recorded at 2 places. It killed 1 person.
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
- August 10, 1988, 04:38:29 UTC
- Source
- Solomon Islands
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7.6, 36 km deep
- Maximum water height
- 0.09 m (0.3 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 2
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- -3.3
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 10.258° S, 160.896° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 1
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 100
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.
On August 10, 1988, a magnitude 7.4 Ms earthquake at 04:38 UT in the Solomon Islands generated a tsunami which killed one person and washed away 100 homes in 13 villages along the southwest coast of San Cristobal Island where the tsunami flooded 50 to 100 meters inland on the southwest coast of Makira (HNR). A 17 cm peak-to-trough tsunami recorded at Honiara, Guadalcanal. (Port Moresby Port Courier, Friday 12 Aug 1988) Two thousand people were evacuated. (reference #1315)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Cristobal Island | Solomon Islands | 89 | 100 | Eyewitness observation of water height | 1 | ||
| Honiara, Guadalcanal | Solomon Islands | 138 | 0.09 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) |
More
Every tsunami in 1988The 1900sTsunamis of Solomon IslandsThe 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 2184.