February 19, 1897 Earthquake: Sanriku, Japan
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Sanriku, Japan on February 19, 1897 at 20:50 UTC, 33 km below the surface. 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
- February 19, 1897
- Time
- 20:50 UTC
- Place
- Sanriku, Japan
- Magnitude
- 7.4 (Ms)
- Focal depth
- 33 km (21 mi)
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 38.100° N, 141.900° E
- Country
- Japan
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Many (101 to 1,000)
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 Feb 20, 1897, 05:20 (Japanese local time; Feb 19, 1897, 20:50) there was a destructive earthquake (38.1 N, 141.5 E, magnitude 7.8) with source off the Sanriku coast, 260 km southeast of Miyako (Iwate Prefecture). It was strong in the prefectures of Iwate, Pliyagi and Fukushima, where it destroyed old homes, bridges and monuments. In particular, many homes were destroyed at Sendai. The radius of the area in which the earthquake was felt was 700 km. A weak tsunami was observed on the coast at Sanriku.
Reference #150:
Feb 20, 1897, 05:50 (Japanese local time; Feb 19, 1897, 20:50), 38.1 N, 141.9 E, shallow depth, magnitude 7.4, tsunami generated.
Reference #1006:
Two earthquakes on February 19;
Feb 19, 1897, 20:48 UTC, 38 N, 142 E, magnitude 8.3.
Feb 19, 1897, 23:48 UTC, 38 N, 142 E, magnitude 8.3.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- March 11, 2011, Honshu, Japan
- September 27, 1611, Aidu, Japan
- February 17, 1793, Sanriku,rikuzen,rikuchu, Japan
- July 10, 1804, Kisakata, Japan
- July 6, 1905, Off Fukushima, Japan
- April 21, 1659, Aidu, Japan
- June 12, 1978, Sanriku, Japan
- June 13, 2008, Tokyo, Honshu, Japan
- April 11, 2011, Honshu, Japan
- March 16, 2022, Off Fukushima, Japan
- April 7, 2011, Near E Coast Honshu, Japan
- February 13, 2021, Off Fukushima, Japan
- October 2, 1678, Sanriku,rikuchu, Japan
- November 5, 1938, Near E Coast Honshu, Japan
- April 30, 1962, Sendai, Honshu, Japan
More
Significant earthquakes of 1897The 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 2502.