To the west of the epicenter on the island of Malakula , a moderate runup of just caused the wooden cargo ship '' Halimon '' to sink while it was at anchor in of water . The ship was loaded with 18 tons of copra ( dried coconut meat ) . While the crew were asleep on board , the initial withdrawal of the tsunami caused the vessel to settle onto the bottom of the bay and list severely . Later , the first positive tsunami wave entered the harbor and swamped the vessel . Investigators were reminded of a similar situation from the much more destructive tsunami that followed the 1868 Arica earthquake in Chile that affected multiple vessels in a similar fashion
1868 Arica earthquake
1868 Arica earthquake
1999 Ambrym earthquake