February 10, 1797 Tsunami: SW. Sumatra, Indonesia
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 8 earthquake began at SW. Sumatra, Indonesia on February 10, 1797. Its effects were recorded at 2 places. It killed 300 people.
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 10, 1797
- Source
- SW. Sumatra, Indonesia
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 8
- Runups recorded
- 2
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 3
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 0.001° N, 99.000° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 300
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Many (101 to 1,000)
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.
Reference #414:
On February 10, 1797, at about 22:00 there was an earthquake on the west coast of Sumatra Island. It occurred at latitude 2 degrees north to 2 degrees south of the equator. A tidal wave followed the earthquake. It burst into the river at Padang with great force and inundated the city. After this, the water retreated so far that even the
river bed dried up. This process recurred three times. The settlement of Ajermanis on the coast was flooded and many huts were washed away. About 300 people died. One ship was carried 5.5 km inland. The tsunami was considerable on the Batu Islands as well.
Reference #42:
Waves of great force near Padang. The town was inundated.
Reference #4659:
0.58 N, 100.2 E W. Sumatera, Padang
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batu Island, Sumatra | Indonesia | 60 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Padang, Sumatra | Indonesia | 183 | 5,500 | Eyewitness observation of water height | 300 |
More
Every tsunami in 1797The 1700sTsunamis of IndonesiaThe 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 576.