May 29, 2020 Tsunami: Ijen Volcano, Bali, Lesser Sunda, Indonesia
A tsunami caused by a volcano and an earthquake began at Ijen Volcano, Bali, Lesser Sunda, Indonesia on May 29, 2020 at 05:30 UTC. The water rose as high as 3 meters. Its effects were recorded at 1 place. It killed 1 person, 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
- May 29, 2020, 05:30 UTC
- Source
- Ijen Volcano, Bali, Lesser Sunda, Indonesia
- Cause
- Volcano and earthquake
- Earthquake
- The earthquake
- Volcano
- The eruption that caused it
- Maximum water height
- 3 m (9.8 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Waters
- A lake or river, not the ocean
- How certain
- Questionable tsunami
- Source location
- 8.058° S, 114.242° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 1 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 sulfur miner was killed when volcanic activity at Mount Ijen in East Java released poisonous gas and triggered a 3-meter wave in a natural lake situated within the volcano's crater on Friday afternoon. The tremor occurred within the mountain at 12:30, resulting in toxic air and an isolated wave from the lake in the crater, kompas.com reported.
The wave that was formed in the wake of the volcanic activity recorded on Friday qualified as a tsunami, according to Indonesian tsunami expert Widjo Kongko.
"[A tsunami] may be triggered by an earthquake, landslide or volcanic activity. The phenomenon recorded in the lake within Mount Ijen's crater is an example of a tsunami," Widjo said on Monday. He went on to say that the wave that occurred on Friday was known among experts as a seiche. "Water oscillations or waves caused by tremors fall into the seiche category," Widjo said.
(reference #12718)
PVMBG reported that on 29 May a gas explosion at Ijen generated a plume that rose 250-500 m above the surface of the lake. According to news articles two sulfur miners heard the explosion from under the water at 1230, which created 3-m-high waves in the lake; the miners ran but one tripped and fell into the lake. Search efforts were unsuccessful after three hours and, due to weather conditions and an increased amount of gas in the crater area, had to be suspended. (reference #12736)
On June 2, 2020, a miner was killed by a seismically triggered gas beracun accompanied by a 3-m high lake tsunami, or seiche. (reference #13826)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crater Lake, Ijen Volcano | Indonesia | 0 | 3 | Eyewitness observation of water height | 1 |
More
Every tsunami in 2020The 2000sTsunamis of IndonesiaThe earthquakeThe eruptionThis 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 5748.