January 3, 2009 Tsunami: Near North Coast, Indonesia

Name: January 3, 2009 Tsunami: Near North Coast, Indonesia
Start: 2009-01-03
Location: Near North Coast, Indonesia

January 3, 2009 · 0.39 m · 5 deaths · Definite tsunami

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake began at Near North Coast, Indonesia on January 3, 2009 at 19:43:50 UTC. The water rose as high as 0.39 meters. Its effects were recorded at 24 places in at least 11 countries. It killed 5 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

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: January 3, 2009, 19:43:50 UTC
Source: Near North Coast, Indonesia
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: Magnitude 7.6, 17 km deep
Maximum water height: 0.39 m (1.3 ft)
Runups recorded: 24
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Definite tsunami
Source location: 0.414° S, 132.885° E

The toll

Deaths: 5 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Injuries: 250 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Damage: Severe (about $5 to $25 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Houses damaged: 840 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.

Irian Jaya Tsunamis of 3 January 2009. A major earthquake with a moment magnitude of 7.6 (USGS) occurred at 19:43:55 UTC 3 January (day 003) and was located 93 miles WNW of Manokwari, Irian Jaya, Indonesia (0.51S, 132.787E, 21.7mi/34.7km depth--USGS location). Two hours and 50 minutes after the first earthquake, a second major earthquake (occurring at 22:33:42 UTC 3 January, 2009) with a moment magnitude of 7.4 (USGS) occurred 51.7 miles WNW of Manokwari, Irian Jaya, Indonesia (0.695S, 133.279E, 21.7mi/34.7km depth--USGS location). These earthquakes produced tsunamis that were recorded at tide gages monitored at the Tsunami Warning Centers. (reference #8657)

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	Measured by	First wave, UTC
Manokwari	Indonesia	142	0.39	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 3, 20:00
Biak I., West Irian	Indonesia	367	0.19	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 3, 20:30
Malakal Island, Caroline Islands	Palau	874	0.04	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 3, 21:11
Jayapura	Indonesia	901	0.1	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 3, 21:10
Yap Island, Caroline Islands	Micronesia	1,243	0.04	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 3, 21:31
Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, MP	US Territories	2,235	0.11	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 3, 23:12
Ishigakiko	Japan	2,895	0.09	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 3, 23:31
Naha	Japan	2,999	0.09	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 3, 23:53
Chichijima Island	Japan	3,203	0.18	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Tosa-Shimizu	Japan	3,674	0.19	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 4, 00:52
Uragami	Japan	3,773	0.25	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Nauru	Nauru	3,787		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 4, 02:43
Omaezaki	Japan	3,917	0.2	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 4, 01:06
Kwajalein, Marshall Islands, MH	Marshall Islands	3,995	0.03	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 4, 01:48
Wake Island, UM	US Territories	4,280	0.03	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 4, 01:05
Port Vila, Efate Island	Vanuatu	4,325	0.04	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Betio, Tarawa	Kiribati	4,462	0.02	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 4, 02:11
Hanasaki	Japan	5,002	0.08	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 4, 03:05
Malokuril'Skaya Bay, Shikotan	Russia	5,097	0.12	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 4, 04:12
Midway Islands, HI	US Territories	6,174	0.09	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 4, 03:18
Pago Pago, American Samoa, AS	US Territories	6,396	0.05	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 4, 05:19
Shemya Island, AK, AK doubtful	United States	7,023		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Arena Cove, CA, CA	United States	11,199	0.05	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 4, 10:52
Port San Luis, CA, CA	United States	11,523	0.08	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 4, 11:32

Every tsunami in 2009 The 2000s Tsunamis of Indonesia 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 2026-10-01. NCEI tsunami event 3647.