December 7, 2022 Tsunami: Mar del Plata, Argentina
A tsunami of meteorological origin began at Mar del Plata, Argentina on December 7, 2022. The water rose as high as 0.46 meters. Its effects were recorded at 9 places in at least 2 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
The tsunami
- Date
- December 7, 2022
- Source
- Mar del Plata, Argentina
- Cause
- Meteorological
- Maximum water height
- 0.46 m (1.5 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 9
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
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 #13947:
[…] no large meteotsunamis had been reported along the coast of Buenos Aires Province since 1970 until December 8th, 2022, when a significant event was recorded. At 02:27 AM (Argentinean time, UTC-3), the sea suddenly advanced around 25–50 m onto the dry beach, causing several damages on the southern beaches of Mar del Plata city, Argentina, and in Montevideo Port, Uruguay. The analyzed event resulted in substantial damage to the southern beaches of Mar del Plata, Argentina […] At around 5:00 on December 8th, just three hours after the ocean wave struck Mar del Plata, a series of waves unfolded at Montevideo Port.
On December 8th, 2022, a meteotsunami was recorded along almost the entire coast of Buenos Aires province, as well as in a large area of the Uruguayan coast (Fig. 5, left panels). Firstly, weak sea-level oscillations below 0.20 m were detected at PB 17:50 December 7th.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Puerto Belgrano | Argentina | 0.09 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 7, 20:50 | |||
| Puerto Quequen | Argentina | 0.4 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 7, 23:30 | |||
| Mar del Plata | Argentina | 0.29 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 8, 01:50 | |||
| Santa Teresita | Argentina | 0.46 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 8, 01:37 | |||
| General Lavalle | Argentina | 0.13 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 8, 07:30 | |||
| La Paloma | Uruguay | 0.16 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 8, 10:02 | |||
| Flores Island | Uruguay | 0.26 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 8, 07:50 | |||
| Montevideo | Uruguay | 0.31 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 8, 08:02 | |||
| Colonia | Uruguay | 0.13 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 8, 05:51 |
More
Every tsunami in 2022The 2000sTsunamis of ArgentinaThis 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 5988.