August 26, 887 Earthquake: Nankaido, Japan
A magnitude 8.6 earthquake struck Nankaido, Japan on August 26, 887. 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
- August 26, 887
- Place
- Nankaido, Japan
- Magnitude
- 8.6 (Ms)
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 33.000° N, 135.300° E
- Country
- Japan
The toll
- Deaths
- Some (about 51 to 100); Many (about 101 to 1,000) with its tsunami and other effects
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 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.
Aug 26, 887, about 16:00 [local time], 33 N, 135.3 E, magnitude 8.6. There was a strong shock in the Kyoto region, causing great destruction and some victims. At the same time, there was a strong earthquake in the prefectures of Osaka, Shiga, Gifu, and Nagano. A tsunami flooded the coastal locality, and some people died.
The hypocenter and plestoseismic zone of this earthquake have not been precisely established. It is possible that this earthquake, like the strong earthquake of 1707, affected the islands of Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. However, the occurrence of landslides in Nagano Prefecture and the destruction of dams on the Saigawa and Chikuma Rivers is similar to what was observed during the strong earthquake of Aug 5, 1847 in central Japan.
[33 N, 135.3 E; M=8.6, m=3].
(above from reference #414)
Aug 26, 887, 33 N, 135.3 E, magnitude 8.6. Many people drowned and many houses destroyed. Destructive tsunami in Osaka Bay. Tsunami also attacked Hiuga. (reference #150)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- January 16, 1995, Kobe, Awaji-Shima, Nishinomiya, SW Honshu, Japan
- February 3, 1605, Nankaido, Japan
- October 28, 1707, Nankaido, Japan
- December 24, 1854, Nankaido, Japan
- December 20, 1946, S Coast, Honshu, Japan
- December 20, 1711, Seionaikai, Japan
- August 3, 1361, Nankaido, Japan
- February 22, 1099, Nankaido, Japan
- April 17, 1948, Tokaido, Japan
- September 20, 1498, Nankaido, Japan
- February 27, 1671, Nankaido, Japan
- August 15, 1331, Sagami, Japan
- December 3, 1855, Nankaido, Japan
- November 22, 1360, Kumanonada, Japan
- August 8, 1808, E. Awa, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan
More
Significant earthquakes of 887The 800sRecent 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 262.