1792 Tsunami: Kodiak Island, AK, United States
A tsunami of meteorological origin began at Kodiak Island, AK, United States in 1792. 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
- 1792
- Source
- Kodiak Island, AK, United States
- Cause
- Meteorological
- Earthquake
- The earthquake
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 1
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Very doubtful tsunami
- Source location
- 57.000° N, 152.000° W
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Few (about 1 to 50) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
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.
On Kodiak a severe earthquake destroyed all the native huts and several cliff faces collapsed. A ship which was entering Three Saints Bay at the time encountered a violent storm and suffered a great deal of damage from the abnormal buffeting. It was reported that subsidence at Chugach Bay caused most of the settlement to be inundated at high tide, but this may actually be a description of Three Saints Harbor following the event Of July 21, 1788.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Three Saints Bay, AK, AK doubtful | United States | 91 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1792The 1700sTsunamis of United StatesThe earthquakeAlerts 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 560.