Tsunamis in 1764

February 11, 1764 Tsunami: Bristol, England, United Kingdom

February 11, 1764 · Very doubtful tsunami

A tsunami of unknown cause began at Bristol, England, United Kingdom on February 11, 1764.

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

Tsunami warnings in force

The tsunami

Date
February 11, 1764
Source
Bristol, England, United Kingdom
Cause
Unknown
Runups recorded
0
Waters
Ocean
How certain
Very doubtful tsunami
Source location
51.450° N, 2.583° W

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.

Reference #1894, in full: "On Saturday the 11th instant, when the tide had hardly begun to flow, according to its regular course, it was observed, by the water-bailif of the city, and by several others, both on the back, and at the key, to rise very suddently to almost high-water mark; and it so continued for near half an hour: then it sunk, almost instantaneously, three feet perpendicular: after that, it began to flow in again, and kept flowing on till one of the clock, and rose to the height it was expected to do."

"At Rownham Passage, a mile below the city, the ferry-men observed the tide to ebb almost instantaneously, and to sink at least four feet perpendicular. Then it flowed in again, as it should have regularly done."

"At King-Road, which is about three miles below the city, the officers observed the king's boat to float suddenly, which they attributed to a great fresh coming. But they found afterwards the boat resently aground."

"I could get no itelligence of anything observable, that happened in the river Severn, excepting that at Gloucester, and at Worcester, the inundation sunk very fast on that day. But most undoubtedly the strong rapid tide of the Severn must have been affected in a very remarkable manner, had there been any curious persons to take notice of it."

More

Every tsunami in 1764The 1700sTsunamis of United KingdomThis 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 481.