November 26, 1999 Tsunami: Vanuatu Islands

Name: November 26, 1999 Tsunami: Vanuatu Islands
Start: 1999-11-26
Location: Vanuatu Islands

November 26, 1999 · 6.6 m · 10 deaths · Definite tsunami

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake began at Vanuatu Islands on November 26, 1999 at 13:21:15 UTC. The water rose as high as 6.6 meters. Its effects were recorded at 53 places in at least 13 countries. It killed 10 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: November 26, 1999, 13:21:15 UTC
Source: Vanuatu Islands
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: Magnitude 7.5, 33 km deep
Maximum water height: 6.6 m (21.7 ft)
Runups recorded: 53
Warning: No warning issued
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Definite tsunami
Source location: 16.423° S, 168.214° E

The toll

Deaths: 5; 10 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Injuries: 100 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Damage: Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
Houses destroyed: Many (101 to 1,000)

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.

Run-up heights reached 6–7m a.s.l. in Martelli Bay in the south of Pentecost (Caminade et al., 2000) and at the mouth of the Pamal River in eastern Ambrym (Pelletier et al., 2000). […] A run-up of 1.8m on the eastern shore of Malekuka caused the sinking of a 50 t wooden ship. Run-up heights on Efate, although far from the source, locally exceeded 1.5m and reached 2.6m on the northern shore (Caminade et al., 2000). The tide gauge at Port Vila recorded a maximum tsunami wave amplitude of 32 cm 30 min after the earthquake (reference #13893).

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
Ambryn Island (West)	Vanuatu	30	2.2		Runup height, post-tsunami survey
Ambrym Island	Vanuatu	34	3.6		Runup height, post-tsunami survey
Ambryn Island (Northwest)	Vanuatu	35	2.1		Runup height, post-tsunami survey
Baie Martelli, Pentecost Island	Vanuatu	47	6.6	2,000	Runup height, post-tsunami survey	day 26, 13:31	5
Pentecost Island (Southwest)	Vanuatu	47	3.4		Runup height, post-tsunami survey
Pentecost Island (West)	Vanuatu	54	3.4		Runup height, post-tsunami survey
Pentecost Island (Southeast)	Vanuatu	55	4.7		Runup height, post-tsunami survey
Tisman Bay, Malakula	Vanuatu	60	1.8	0.8	Runup height, post-tsunami survey
Pentecost Island (East)	Vanuatu	65	1		Runup height, post-tsunami survey
Efate Island	Vanuatu	130	2.6		Runup height, post-tsunami survey
Efate Island (West)	Vanuatu	131	1.6		Runup height, post-tsunami survey
West of Port Vila, Efate Island	Vanuatu	146	2.4		Runup height, post-tsunami survey
Port Vila, Efate Island	Vanuatu	148	0.2		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Lautoka	Fiji	991	0.13		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Suva, King'S Wharf	Fiji	1,102	1		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Funafuti	Tuvalu	1,479	0.05		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Nauru	Nauru	1,763	0.05		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Apia, Upolu Island	Samoa	2,171	0.05		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Pago Pago, American Samoa, AS	US Territories	2,277	0.1		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Niue	Niue	2,336	0.07		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Kwajalein, Marshall Islands, MH	Marshall Islands	2,783	0.05		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Chatham Island	New Zealand	3,373	0.05		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Wake Island, UM	US Territories	3,954	0.05		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Papeete, Tahiti	French Polynesia	4,488	0.05		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Nawiliwili, Kauai, HI, HI	United States	5,525	0.1		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Honolulu, Oahu, HI, HI	United States	5,579	0.05		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Kawaihae, Hawaii, HI, HI	United States	5,632	0.05		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Kahului, Maui, HI, HI	United States	5,649	0.1		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Hilo, Hawaii, HI, HI	United States	5,669	0.05		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Mera	Japan	6,426	0.14		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Omaezaki	Japan	6,479	0.12		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Uchiura	Japan	6,482	0.09		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Shimizu	Japan	6,501	0.05		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Kushimoto	Japan	6,508	0.16		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Uragami	Japan	6,508	0.11		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Maisaka	Japan	6,517	0.03		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Owase	Japan	6,539	0.09		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Toba	Japan	6,541	0.07		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Shirahama	Japan	6,549	0.15		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Onahama	Japan	6,565	0.08		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Murotomisaki	Japan	6,583	0.15		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Wakayama	Japan	6,609	0.05		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Tosa-Shimizu	Japan	6,613	0.14		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Komatsushima	Japan	6,624	0.05		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Kochi	Japan	6,643	0.07		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Ayukawa	Japan	6,669	0.17		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Su-Ao, Yilan	Taiwan	6,775	0.06		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Miyako	Japan	6,779	0.08		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Hachinohe	Japan	6,883	0.11		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Hanasaki	Japan	7,003	0.11		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Kushiro	Japan	7,014	0.07		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Port San Luis, CA, CA	United States	9,413	0.05		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Taipei County	Taiwan		0.19		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)

Every tsunami in 1999 The 1900s Tsunamis of Vanuatu 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 2339.