September 4, 1596 Tsunami: Beppu Bay, Kyushu, Japan
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6.9 earthquake and a landslide began at Beppu Bay, Kyushu, Japan on September 4, 1596. The water rose as high as 8 meters. Its effects were recorded at 6 places. It killed 708 people, counting the earthquake or eruption that caused it.
Where the waves reached
The source (white) and every runup with a place, colored by the water height recorded there. A ring is a runup NCEI marks doubtful.
- Under 1 m
- 1 to 3 m
- 3 to 10 m
- 10 to 30 m
- 30 m and more
- Height not recorded
The tsunami
- Date
- September 4, 1596
- Source
- Beppu Bay, Kyushu, Japan
- Cause
- Earthquake and landslide
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 6.9
- Maximum water height
- 8 m (26.2 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 6
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 2
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- 2
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 33.300° N, 131.700° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 708
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million); Severe (about $5 to $25 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- 80
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 #150:
Landslide, 708 deaths. 80% of Uryujima (Is) sunk. Tsunami damage around the bay, tsunami height 4-5m.
Reference #414:
Lists September 4 (mistakenly July 22 and September 1), 33.3N, 131.7E, magnitude 6.9. Three large waves were observed in the vicinity of Oita. A section about 600 hectares in area on the coast of Beppu Bay subsided underwater. At Saganoseki, about 60 hectares of fields were washed out. Two village numbering 70-80 homes were inundated. After the earthquake, Urujima Island, having a circumference of about 12 km and situated 400-500 m from Oita, subsided under the water (the present small island of Kantan is thought to be a remnant of Urujima island). 708 persons died. A strong afterhsock was felt on September 4.
Reference #1897:
States: “Sept. 1, 1596. Sea waves on the coast of Bungo; three waves counted; a few square miles of land fell beneath the sea level.”
Reference #3755:
“Earthquake of August 25, 1596 (Julian Calendar). For more than one month before the main shock, many foreshocks were observed. Eighty per cent of Uryu-Jima (small island with an area of 4 x 2.2 km-sq) in the Beppu Bay, located at about 400 to 500 m off the Oita city in Kyushu, sank into the sea, and 708 lives were lost. The population of the Island in those days was reported as 5,000. The coast of Beppu Bay was destroyed by a tsunami.”
Every runup
Nearest the source first. Heights are above sea level at the time; a tide gauge reads half the wave’s full height.
| Where | Country | Km from source | Water height, m | Inland, m | Measured by | First wave, UTC | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oita | Japan | 11 | 4 | 1,500 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||
| Nata (Nada) | Japan | 13 | 8 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Saganoseki | Japan | 17 | 8 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Uryu-Jima Island, Beppu Bay | Japan | 19 | 5 | Eyewitness observation of water height | 708 | ||
| Uwaura | Japan | 19 | 4 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Usuki | Japan | 22 | 4 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1596The 1500sTsunamis of JapanThe earthquakeThis day in weather historyAlerts in force
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. NCEI tsunami event 203.