What is a tsunami runup?

One place where a tsunami's effects were observed or measured: the height the water reached above sea level, how far inland it went, when the first wave arrived and who died there. A large tsunami leaves thousands; the 2011 Japan tsunami left more than six thousand.

Where does this tsunami record come from?

From NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information and its Global Historical Tsunami Database, which holds every tsunami found in the scientific and historical record since 2000 BC, each rated for how certain it is, with its runups.

Tsunamis

Q: Is there a tsunami warning now?

Tsunami warnings, advisories and watches for US coasts are National Weather Service alerts and appear on the alerts in force and the live map. The Pacific and National Tsunami Warning Centers publish every message at tsunami.gov. Near the coast, strong or long shaking is itself the warning: go to high ground at once.

3,131 events since 2000 BC · 35,097 runups

Every tsunami in NOAA’s Global Historical Tsunami Database, back to 2000 BC: what caused it, how high the water rose, where it came ashore, and how many it killed. Each event has its own page with a map of every place its waves reached.

Every tsunami on the map

The 1,694 probable and definite tsunamis, at their source, colored by the highest water recorded; the larger the dot, the more people it killed. Tap one to open it.

Under 1 m
1 to 3 m
3 to 10 m
10 to 30 m
30 m and more
Height not recorded

Tsunami warnings in force

Tsunami warnings now

Tsunami warnings, advisories and watches in force for US coasts are National Weather Service alerts, and appear with the rest on the alerts in force and on the live map. The Pacific and National Tsunami Warning Centers publish every message, including those for quakes abroad, at tsunami.gov.

After strong or long shaking near the coast, go to high ground at once without waiting for a warning.

Alerts in force

The record

Events: 3,131
Probable or definite: 1,694
Runups: 35,097
Deaths counted: 3,344,030

The deadliest tsunamis

The highest water

The greatest water height recorded for each event.

The most recent

What this record is

NCEI’s Global Historical Tsunami Database holds every tsunami it has found in the scientific and historical record since 2000 BC, from the great ocean-crossing waves to small ones seen on one tide gauge. An event is the source: an earthquake, a volcano, a landslide or the weather. A runup is one place where its effects were observed or measured: the height the water reached, how far inland, when the first wave arrived, and anyone killed there.

NCEI keeps doubtful entries rather than delete them, and rates each event:

0: An event that only caused a seiche
1: Very doubtful tsunami
2: Questionable tsunami
3: Probable tsunami
4: Definite tsunami
-1: Erroneous entry

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.

By country

By the country of the source.

Sources

Tsunami events and runups 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.