May 3, 2006 Tsunami: Tonga
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 8 earthquake began at Tonga on May 3, 2006 at 15:26:40 UTC. The water rose as high as 0.27 meters. Its effects were recorded at 55 places in at least 17 countries.
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
- May 3, 2006, 15:26:40 UTC
- Source
- Tonga
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 8, 55 km deep
- Maximum water height
- 0.27 m (0.9 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 55
- Warning
- Regional Tsunami Warning issued by PTWC for areas without a warning system
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 20.187° S, 174.123° W
The toll
- Injuries
- 1 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million) 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.
A tsunami was generated with
recorded wave heights in meters (peak-to-trough) at
the following selected tide stations: 0.54 at Pago
Pago, American Samoa; 0.10 at Tofino, British
Columbia, Canada; 0.13 at Raratonga, Cook Islands;
0.07 at Suva, Fiji; 0.15 at Hanasaki, Japan; 0.48 at
Noumea, New Caledonia; 0.15 at Jackson Bay, New
Zealand; 0.42 on Niue; 0.42 at Apia, Samoa; 0.42 at
Nuku`alofa, Tonga; 0.13 at King Cove, Alaska, 0.54 at
Crescent City, California, 0.35 at Santa Barbara,
California, 0.10 at San Francisco, California, 0.49 at
Kahului, Hawaii, 0.12 at Portland, Oregon, 0.11 at La
Push, Washington, U.S.A; 0.45 at Port-Vila, Vanuatu. (reference #1053)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nukualofa (Nuku'Alofa) | Tonga | 152 | 0.21 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 3, 16:00 | ||
| Niue | Niue | 458 | 0.21 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Apia, Upolu Island | Samoa | 747 | 0.04 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 3, 16:24 | ||
| Pago Pago, American Samoa, AS | US Territories | 749 | 0.27 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 3, 16:15 | ||
| Suva, King'S Wharf | Fiji | 816 | 0.04 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 3, 17:20 | ||
| Lautoka | Fiji | 934 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Funafuti | Tuvalu | 1,477 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 3, 17:50 | |||
| Rarotonga | Cook Islands | 1,498 | 0.07 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 3, 17:10 | ||
| Port Vila, Efate Island | Vanuatu | 1,869 | 0.23 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 3, 19:05 | ||
| Noumea | New Caledonia | 2,032 | 0.24 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 3, 19:18 | ||
| Marsden Point | New Zealand | 2,061 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Gisborne | New Zealand | 2,184 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Port Napier | New Zealand | 2,304 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Taranaki | New Zealand | 2,353 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Papeete, Tahiti | French Polynesia | 2,601 | 0.12 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 3, 18:55 | ||
| Kaingaroa, Chatham Island | New Zealand | 2,619 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Lyttelton | New Zealand | 2,871 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Timaru | New Zealand | 3,006 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Jackson Bay | New Zealand | 3,086 | 0.08 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Otago | New Zealand | 3,159 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Spring Bay, Tasmania | Australia | 4,323 | 0.2 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Wake Island, UM | US Territories | 4,846 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Kawaihae, Hawaii, HI, HI | United States | 4,876 | 0.09 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 3, 21:40 | ||
| Hilo, Hawaii, HI, HI | United States | 4,881 | 0.09 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 3, 22:00 | ||
| Honolulu, Oahu, HI, HI | United States | 4,919 | 0.14 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 3, 22:00 | ||
| Nawiliwili, Kauai, HI, HI | United States | 4,931 | 0.14 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 3, 21:50 | ||
| Kahului, Maui, HI, HI | United States | 4,934 | 0.25 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 3, 22:20 | ||
| Adak, Sweeper Cove, AK, AK | United States | 7,985 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Ofunato | Japan | 8,004 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Hanasaki | Japan | 8,147 | 0.08 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 4, 01:55 | ||
| Santa Barbara, CA, CA | United States | 8,347 | 0.18 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 4, 02:30 | ||
| Point Reyes, CA, CA | United States | 8,370 | 0.13 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 4, 02:30 | ||
| Point Arena, CA, CA | United States | 8,390 | 0.08 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 4, 02:25 | ||
| San Francisco, CA, CA | United States | 8,390 | 0.05 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 4, 03:05 | ||
| Alameda, CA, CA | United States | 8,399 | 0.04 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Los Angeles, CA, CA | United States | 8,405 | 0.08 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 4, 03:05 | ||
| Santa Monica, CA, CA | United States | 8,407 | 0.1 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 4, 02:45 | ||
| Ensenada | Mexico | 8,409 | 0.22 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| King Cove, AK, AK | United States | 8,412 | 0.07 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| La Jolla, CA, CA | United States | 8,426 | 0.04 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 4, 02:45 | ||
| Sand Point, AK, AK | United States | 8,467 | 0.05 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Crescent City, CA, CA | United States | 8,569 | 0.27 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 4, 02:50 | ||
| Port Orford, OR, OR | United States | 8,624 | 0.06 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 4, 03:15 | ||
| Charleston, OR, OR | United States | 8,689 | 0.04 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| La Push, WA, WA | United States | 9,010 | 0.06 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Tofino (Clayoquot),british Columbia, BC | Canada | 9,039 | 0.04 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 4, 03:00 | ||
| Winter Harbor, British Columbia, BC | Canada | 9,041 | 0.05 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 4, 03:31 | ||
| Neah Bay, WA, WA | United States | 9,046 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Bamfield, British Columbia, BC | Canada | 9,055 | 0.03 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 4, 04:00 | ||
| Port Hardy, British Columbia, BC | Canada | 9,084 | 0.02 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 4, 04:15 | ||
| Port Angeles, WA, WA | United States | 9,092 | 0.04 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Victoria, British Columbia, BC | Canada | 9,118 | 0.05 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 4, 05:17 | ||
| Bella Bella, British Columbia, BC | Canada | 9,170 | 0.03 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 4, 04:16 | ||
| Sitka, AK, AK | United States | 9,291 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Quepos | Costa Rica | 10,369 | 0.08 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 4, 05:45 |
More
Every tsunami in 2006The 2000sTsunamis of TongaThe 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 2749.