December 5, 2018 Tsunami: Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia

Name: December 5, 2018 Tsunami: Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia
Start: 2018-12-05
Location: Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia

December 5, 2018 · 4 m · Definite tsunami

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake began at Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia on December 5, 2018 at 04:18:08 UTC. The water rose as high as 4 meters. Its effects were recorded at 35 places in at least 11 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

Tsunami warnings in force

The tsunami

Date: December 5, 2018, 04:18:08 UTC
Source: Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: Magnitude 7.5, 10 km deep
Maximum water height: 4 m (13.1 ft)
Runups recorded: 35
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Definite tsunami
Source location: 21.950° S, 169.427° E

The toll

Damage: Limited (under about $1 million)
Houses damaged: Few (about 1 to 50)

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 5 December 2018, a magnitude Mw 7.5 earthquake occurred southeast of Mare, an island of the Loyalty Islands archipelago, New Caledonia. This earthquake is located at the junction between the plunging Loyalty Ridge and the southern part of the Vanuatu Arc, in a tectonically complex and very active area regularly subjected to strong seismic crises and earthquakes higher than magnitude 7 and up to 8. (reference #13126)

A tsunami with a recorded wave height of 2 meters damaged a school and several homes at Anelghowhat and Oumetch, Vanuatu. It was also recorded at Tanna, Vanuatu with a wave height of 72cm and observed in parts of the Loyality Islands. (reference #1053)

The tsunami triggered by the 7.6 Magnitude earthquake off Loyalty Islands has caused damage to a French Primary School, residential dwellings and gardens along the coast of Aneityum [Vanuatu]. (reference #12303)

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
Mare Island	New Caledonia	166	0.43		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 5, 04:42
Mare Island	New Caledonia	166	2		Eyewitness observation of water height
Mystery Isl., Aneityum, Vanuatu	Vanuatu	192			Eyewitness observation of water height
Umeij (Oumetch), Aneityum, Vanuatu	Vanuatu	194	4	200	Eyewitness observation of water height
Anelcauhat, Aneityum, Vanuatu Isl	Vanuatu	194		15	Eyewitness observation of water height
Anelghowhat, Aneityum, Vanuatu Isl	Vanuatu	194	2		Eyewitness observation of water height
Ile des Pins	New Caledonia	211	2		Eyewitness observation of water height
Lifou Island	New Caledonia	250	0.29		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 5, 04:41
Yate	New Caledonia	261	2.3		Eyewitness observation of water height
Lenakel, Tanna	Vanuatu	268	0.72		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 5, 04:40
Ipikel, Tanna	Vanuatu	270	1.5	80	Eyewitness observation of water height
Ouinne	New Caledonia	283	0.48		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 5, 05:09
Noumea	New Caledonia	311	0.1		Eyewitness observation of water height
Noumea	New Caledonia	313	0.04		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Thio	New Caledonia	332	0.23		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 5, 05:06
Erakor Island	Vanuatu	477			Eyewitness observation of water height
Port Vila, Efate Island	Vanuatu	479	0.3		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 5, 04:59
Hienghene	New Caledonia	486	0.11		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Litzlitz, Malekula Island	Vanuatu	679	0.07		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 5, 06:06
Luganville	Vanuatu	750	0.11		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 5, 05:42
Lautoka	Fiji	967	0.04		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Suva, King'S Wharf	Fiji	1,031	0.03		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
North Cape	New Zealand	1,426	0.14		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Raoul Island, Fishing Rock	New Zealand	1,506	0.16		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Raoul Island, Boat Cove	New Zealand	1,509	0.1		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Leava, Futuna Island	Wallis and Futuna	1,562	0.13		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Nukualofa (Nuku'Alofa)	Tonga	1,596	0.04		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 5, 07:25
Korotiti Bay, Great Barrier Island	New Zealand	1,684	0.07		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Fongafale	Tuvalu	1,819	0.03		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Apia, Upolu Island	Samoa	2,184	0.04		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Pago Pago, American Samoa, AS	US Territories	2,267	0.06		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 5, 08:21
Port Kembla	Australia	2,280	0.04		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Spring Bay, Tasmania	Australia	3,035	0.06		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 5, 09:58
Honolulu, Oahu, HI, HI	United States	5,960	0.03		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Kawaihae, Hawaii, HI, HI	United States	5,988	0.05		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 5, 12:32

Every tsunami in 2018 The 2000s Tsunamis of New Caledonia 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 5698.