October 10, 2002 Tsunami: Irian Jaya, Indonesia
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake began at Irian Jaya, Indonesia on October 10, 2002 at 10:50:20 UTC. The water rose as high as 5 meters. Its effects were recorded at 3 places. It killed 8 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
The tsunami
- Date
- October 10, 2002, 10:50:20 UTC
- Source
- Irian Jaya, Indonesia
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7.6, 10 km deep
- Maximum water height
- 5 m (16.4 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 3
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 2.82
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- 2.32
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Very doubtful tsunami
- Source location
- 1.757° S, 134.297° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 8 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Injuries
- 632 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- 1,000 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses damaged
- 900 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 #1053 stated "Many houses were flooded by a local tsunami with estimated wave heights of 3 to 5 meters at Oransbari and Ransiki and 1 meter at Manokwari."; but reference #3807 stated "Based on correspondence with Gegar Sapta Prasetya of the Agency for Marine Fisheries Research, Indonesia Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, and Dr. Fauzi Rades, National Earthquake Center Coordinator at Indonesia's Meteorological and Geophysical Agency, no formal report of a tsunami occurrence will be prepared in response to the devastating October 10, 2002 earthquake in the Irian Jaya Region. According to Dr. Prasetya, subsidence along the coast was the probable cause of the coastal flooding found along the Oransbari coast. In addition, his staff sent to the area to investigate had no reports from people in Biak and Jayapura that they had experienced a tsunami."
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ransiki doubtful | Indonesia | 32 | 5 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Oransbari doubtful | Indonesia | 45 | 5 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Manokwari doubtful | Indonesia | 75 | 1 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 2002The 2000sTsunamis of IndonesiaThe 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 2400.