February 11, 1775 Tsunami: Santiago DE Cuba

Name: February 11, 1775 Tsunami: Santiago DE Cuba
Start: 1775-02-11
Location: Santiago DE Cuba

February 11, 1775 · Definite tsunami

A tsunami caused by an earthquake began at Santiago DE Cuba on February 11, 1775. Its effects were recorded at 2 places in at least 2 countries.

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

Tsunami warnings in force

Travel times

How long the first wave took to reach each part of the ocean, one line for each hour up to 24, estimated from the source and the depth of the sea.

The travel times are computed in your browser, which needs JavaScript.

1 to 4 hours
5 to 6 hours
7 to 14 hours
15 hours and more

Computed in your browser the way NOAA’s own travel time maps are: the wave travels at the square root of gravity times the depth, over NOAA’s ETOPO1 depths averaged to a 10 arc-minute grid. Checked against NOAA NCEI’s maps for 21 tsunamis over the first 24 hours, these lines fall within 10 minutes of NCEI’s at half the points compared and within 52 minutes at 9 in 10. They give when the first wave could arrive, not how high it is; bays, harbors and island chains finer than the grid can see it later. Not for use in a warning: see tsunami.gov.

The tsunami

Date: February 11, 1775
Source: Santiago DE Cuba
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: The earthquake
Runups recorded: 2
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Definite tsunami
Source location: 19.900° N, 76.000° W

The toll

Damage: Severe (about $5 to $25 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.

Berninghausen (Reference #43): "Santiago de Cuba -- Large earthquake. Waves caused extensive destruction." Cotilla-Rodriguez (Reference #1910) mentions an earthquake of February 11, 1775 in Santiago de Cuba but gives no detail. It is possible that this undated event (in Berninghausen) might be associated with February 11, 1775. Epicenter location is from Cotilla-Rodriguez.

Some sources point to an another location. Lander et al. (Reference #537) reports, "An earthquake at Hispaniola reportedly leveled several storehouses, and great damage was done by a tsunami, but the exact date and location are unknown. Event may be identical with March 1775 and December 18, 1775." Shepherd and Lynch (Reference #386) identifies the location as Haiti.

1775, February 11. Hispaniola Cuba. Southey reported, "Three shocks of an earthquake were felt at Espanola [Hispaniola], several storehouses were thrown down, and great damage done by the sea." Taber and others noted the absence of a precise location in the Southey report. Shepherd cited this quote from Southey for Feb. 11, at Haiti [MM = VI], also listed Santiago de Cuba [MMI = VII], where shocks "destroyed houses and damaged churches from there to Santa Catalina." Beminghausen, 1968; Chuy & Pino, 1982; Heck, 1947; Neumann, 1953; Pezuela, 1866; Poey, 1857; Rubio, 1982; Shepherd & Lynch, 1992; Southey, 1827; Taber, 1922b. V4 (reference #1492)

1775, February 11. An earthquake at Hispaniola reportedly leveled several storehouses, and great damage was done by a tsunami, but the exact date and location are unknown. Event may be identical with March 1775 and December 18, 1775. Shepherd and Lynch, 1992; Southey, 1827. V2. (reference #537)

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
Santiago DE Cuba	Cuba	22			Eyewitness observation of water height
Haiti: Unknown Location doubtful	Haiti	391			Eyewitness observation of water height

Every tsunami in 1775 The 1700s Tsunamis of Cuba The earthquake This day in weather history Alerts 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 2768.