June 26, 1917 Earthquake: Samoa Islands
A magnitude 8.3 earthquake struck Samoa Islands on June 26, 1917 at 05:49:42 UTC, 25 km below the surface. It killed 2 people, counting the tsunami it caused.
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
- June 26, 1917
- Time
- 05:49:42 UTC
- Place
- Samoa Islands
- Magnitude
- 8.3 (Ms)
- Focal depth
- 25 km (16 mi)
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 15.500° S, 173.000° W
- Country
- Samoa
The toll
- Deaths
- 2 with its tsunami and other effects
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million); Moderate (about $1 to $5 million) with its tsunami and other effects
- Houses destroyed
- Many (101 to 1,000) with its tsunami and other effects
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.
There was a catastrophic earthquake with a source between the islands of Samoa and Tonga. On the island of Niuatoputapu (Keppel), a change of relief occurred. One of the lagoons is said to have been raised up and became dry land, while a rocky ridge sank under the water. The quake was felt a distance of up to 6o from the epicenter, over an area of 1,000,000 square km. The area over which it was felt stretched in a north-south direction.
The earthquake was more severe in the inner mountains of the island than on the sandy coast. Fragments of the rock rolled down the mountain slopes and numerous cracks appeared in the ground. Trees were uprooted. The piling supports of many huts were torn off, but there was no loss of life. In Apia, the customs building suffered damage.
The quake (MMI of 8.25) generated a tsunami up to 12 m (40 feet) in height. (above from Reference #415)
Different Reports of Epicenters
TimeLatitudeLongitudeMagnitudeReference #05 49.715.5S173W8.3#41505 5015.5S173W8.3#7905 49.715.5S173W8.3#13005 49 4215.5S173W8.7#8805 5016S171W8.0#237
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
More
Significant earthquakes of 1917The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1917Recent 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 3087.