February 3, 1605 Tsunami: Enshunada, Japan
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.9 earthquake began at Enshunada, Japan on February 3, 1605. Its effects were recorded at 7 places. It killed 1,001 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
- February 3, 1605
- Source
- Enshunada, Japan
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7.9
- Runups recorded
- 7
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- 3
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 33.500° N, 138.500° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 1,001
- 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.
February 3, 1605, Enshunada, 34 N, 137.8 E, magnitude 8.0, tsunami intensity 3, validity 4. Castles at Tawara in Atsumi and Kakegawa destroyed. 80 houses (80%) at Arai washed away. Tsunami attacked from Ise shima to Boso. More than 1,000 persons drowned. (reference #150) February 3, 1605, 33.5 N, 138.5 E, magnitude 7.9. (reference #3785)
January 31 (February 3), 1605, 20:00 [local time]. An enormous tsunami with a maximum known rise of water of 30 m was observed on the coast from the Boso Peninsula to the eastern part of Kyushu Island. The eastern part of the Boso Peninsula, the coast of Tokyo Bay, the coast of the prefectures of Kanagawa and Shizouka, and the southeastern coast of Kochi Precture suffered especially heavily...In some catalogs (References #150 and #3785) it is considered that two strong earthquakes occurred almost simultaneously in 1605: one at Tokaido and one at Nankaido with the following approximate epicenter coordinates: 34.3 North, 140.3 East; 33 North, 134.9 East.
(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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hachijo Island | Japan | 126 | Eyewitness observation of water height | 57 | |||
| Nishina Village | Japan | 143 | 1,200 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Arai | Japan | 157 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Ise-Shima | Japan | 182 | Eyewitness observation of water height | 1,001 | |||
| Boso | Japan | 199 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Miura | Japan | 209 | Eyewitness observation of water height | 153 | |||
| Ise Bay | Japan | 213 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1605The 1600sTsunamis 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 2954.