1603 Tsunami: Kumanonada, Japan
A tsunami of unknown cause began at Kumanonada, Japan in 1603. The water rose as high as 2 meters. Its effects were recorded at 1 place.
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
- 1603
- Source
- Kumanonada, Japan
- Cause
- Unknown
- Maximum water height
- 2 m (6.6 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 1
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- 1
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Questionable tsunami
The toll
The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this tsunami.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
No earthquake description. (reference #150)
There was a tsunami at Kumano on the Kii peninsula. No details are available. No earthquake is reported. It is possible that this was a tsunami of remote origin or waves of storm origin (reference #414)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kumanonada Sea | Japan | 2 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1603The 1600sTsunamis of JapanAlerts 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 209.