April 17, 1857 Eruption of Umboi
Umboi in Papua New Guinea erupted on April 17, 1857. It caused a tsunami.
Where it erupted
Umboi, Papua New Guinea, with its other significant eruptions.
The eruption
- Date
- April 17, 1857
- Volcano
- Umboi, complex volcano
- Country
- Papua New Guinea
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Earthquake
- Yes: the earthquake with it
- Location
- 5.592° S, 147.892° E
The toll
- Deaths
- Some (about 51 to 100) with the tsunamis, mudflows and other effects it caused
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million) with the tsunamis, mudflows and other effects it caused
- Houses destroyed
- Some (about 51 to 100) with the tsunamis, mudflows and other effects it caused
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.
No eruption
Reference #414:
On April 17, 1857 (1856) immediately after sunset there was a powerful tremor on Umboi Island (Rooke), in the passage between New Guinea and New Britain. A few seconds later, a second, stronger shock knocked down a stove. This was followed by more shocks, but of lesser force. In the morning it was found that large landslides had occurred; cracks 1 m wide had formed in the ground and extended from Nurua village to the sea shore. West of Tolociwa Island (Lotten), a volcano supposedly rose from the water and smoked for a long time. After the tremor, the sea "began to move".
More
Every eruption in 1857The 1800sUmboiEarthquakes near UmboiThis day in weather history
Sources
Volcanoes and significant eruptions 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. Volcano numbers are the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program’s. NCEI event 4906.