September 5, 1866 Earthquake: Kodiak Island, AK, Alaska, United States
An earthquake struck Kodiak Island, AK, Alaska, United States on September 5, 1866 at 13:00:00 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
- September 5, 1866
- Time
- 13:00:00 UTC
- Place
- Kodiak Island, AK, Alaska, United States
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 58.000° N, 152.000° W
- Country
- United States
- Region
- North America and Hawaii
- USGS record
- The USGS’s page for this earthquake
The toll
The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this earthquake.
What happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
A violent earthquake struck Pavlof (St. Paul) Harbor. It "half destroyed" the landing on Woody Island and damaged many buildings, stoves, and chimneys. Huge rocks were thrown down the mountains. (Ref. 38, 426, 515, 520.)
Maximum observed Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) VII
From Seismicity of the United States, 1568-1989 (Revised), by Carl W. Stover and Jerry L. Coffman, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1527, United States Government Printing Office, Washington: 1993.
Note that only the date is known for the timing of this event. The origin time actually should be "None" instead of 00:00:00, but a full date-time is needed for the catalog.
From the USGS event page for ushis126. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.
References for the magnitude and location
The USGS’s notes on how this earthquake’s official magnitude and location were set.
Note that only the date is known for the timing of this event. The origin time actually should be "None" instead of 00:00:00, but a full date-time is needed for the catalog.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
1866. Sept. 6. 58 N, 152 W, depth 38 km, intensity VII. Kodiak Island, Alaska. A violent earthquake struck Pavlof (St. Paul) Harbor. It "half destroyed" the landing on Woody Island and damaged many buildings, stoves, and chimneys. Huge
rocks were thrown down the mountains. (reference #542)
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #542 Stover, Carl W., and Jerry L. Coffman (1993). Seismicity of the United States, 1568-1989 (Revised), U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1527, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 418 p.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- 1792, Kodiak Island, Alaska, United States
- January 27, 1854, Gulf of Alaska, Alaska, United States
- March 11, 1970, Andreanof Islands, Alaska, United States
- July 21, 1788, Unga Island, Alaska Peninsula, United States
- October 9, 1900, Kodiak Island, Alaska, United States
- December 23, 1906, Aleutian Islands, Alaska, United States
- November 7, 1912, Alaska Peninsula, Alaska, United States
- January 24, 2016, Kenai, Alaska, United States
More
Significant earthquakes of 1866The 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 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 6565. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event ushis126, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.