October 20, 1861 Earthquake: Miyagi Prefecture, Honshu, Japan
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Miyagi Prefecture, Honshu, Japan on October 20, 1861 at 17:30 UTC. It caused a tsunami.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- October 20, 1861
- Time
- 17:30 UTC
- Place
- Miyagi Prefecture, Honshu, Japan
- Magnitude
- 7.4 (Ms)
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 38.500° N, 142.000° E
- Country
- Japan
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 70
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 #414:
On October 21, 1861, at 2:30 [local time] there was an earthquake at Hakodate, which lasted 3 1/2 minutes. A tsunami was observed on the southern part of the Sanriku coast (prefectures of Miyagi and Iwate). It caused slight
destruction. The height of the wave was 4 m at Ryori.
Iida (1956): 37.6o N., 141.7o E.; M=6.4, m=0.
Iida et al. (1967): 37.7o N., 141.6o E.; m=2.
Reference #150:
1861, Oct, 20. 38.5 N., 142 E., magnitude 7.4. Tsunami 3.9m high at Ryori. 2 3m at Nobiru. About 70 houses destroyed by shock in area of Kitakami River. Sendai castle damage.
Reference #79:
Epicenter 37.7 N., 141.6 E, magnitude 6.4
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- March 11, 2011, Honshu, Japan
- February 17, 1793, Sanriku,rikuzen,rikuchu, Japan
- July 10, 1804, Kisakata, Japan
- August 31, 1896, Senhoku, Ugo, Japan
- October 18, 1644, NW. Honshu Island, Japan
- July 6, 1905, Off Fukushima, Japan
- June 12, 1978, Sanriku, Japan
- June 13, 2008, Tokyo, Honshu, Japan
- March 16, 2022, Off Fukushima, Japan
- April 7, 2011, Near E Coast Honshu, Japan
- October 2, 1678, Sanriku,rikuchu, Japan
- February 13, 2021, Off Fukushima, Japan
- April 30, 1962, Sendai, Honshu, Japan
- July 23, 2008, N, Honshu, Japan
- November 5, 1938, Near E Coast Honshu, Japan
More
Significant earthquakes of 1861The 1800sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes 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 earthquake 6146.