January 8, 1731 Tsunami: Western Norway
A tsunami caused by a landslide began at Western Norway on January 8, 1731. It killed 17 people, counting the earthquake or eruption that caused it.
Where the waves reached
The source of the tsunami. No runup with a place is recorded for it.
- 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
- January 8, 1731
- Source
- Western Norway
- Cause
- Landslide
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 6
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 62.333° N, 6.967° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 17 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
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.
Giant wave, Stranda (reference #4139)
1738 Jan 08, 62.33 N 6.967 E (reference #11164)
A complete mountain-side was separated from the adjacent rock by a deep crack. It had been forecasted and feared for a long time that a large rockslide would occur at this location. The reason for the rockslide was, according to Strom, that water entered the crack and during cold weather it froze and forced the mountain apart. The slide portion was 270 metres in length and about 120 metres in width or height, while the depth is not known. However, one could assume that the mass involved in this slide must have by far surpassed 100,000 cu metres. The break line is visible today and shows that the slide must have occurred along a near-vertical crack from the mountain-side to below sea level. Strom mentions that at the foot of the mountain there was a little bay from which a small valley extended upwards. At this place there was a small settlement called Uren. The whole settlement disappeared in the slide which produced a wave causing considerable damage at Stranda on the other side of the fjord, about 2 kilometres from the slide area. At this point a wave caused by the slide reached a hundred paces higher than the high-water level and 'caused extensive damage. Altogether 17 people perished. (reference #13255)
Note: unclear if deaths were from slide or wave
More
Every tsunami in 1731The 1700sTsunamis of NorwayThis 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 4252.