December 18, 1828 Tsunami: NW. Honshu Island, Japan

Name: December 18, 1828 Tsunami: NW. Honshu Island, Japan
Start: 1828-12-18
Location: NW. Honshu Island, Japan

December 18, 1828 · 1,443 deaths · 11,750 houses destroyed · Erroneous entry

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6.9 earthquake began at NW. Honshu Island, Japan on December 18, 1828. It killed 1,443 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

Tsunami warnings in force

The tsunami

Date: December 18, 1828
Source: NW. Honshu Island, Japan
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: Magnitude 6.9
Runups recorded: 0
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Erroneous entry

The toll

Deaths: 1,443 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Damage: Extreme (about $25 million or more) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Houses destroyed: 11,750 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.

Reference #79:

May 26 (Dec 18), 1828. 37.6 N, 138.9 E, magnitude 6.9, Chijiwa Bay or Amakusa Sea. Observation: Japan - Kyushu, Nagasaki ~ Amakusa. Earthquake said to have been accompanied by submarine disturbance and waves. This event and an undated flood are the only ones found in Japanese records that might have been the basis for Milne's report of sea waves accompanying the Echigo (Niigata) quake of Dec. 18. Heck erroneously listed the Echigo site of the quake as the site of the reported tsunami.

Reference #132:

Dec 18, 1828. Japan, Echigo, Sea wave at Kiushu.

Reference #414:

1828, December 18, 8:00 local time. Milne's catalogue (1912) states that an earthquake occurred in Niigata Prefecture and at the same time a tsunami was observed on the coast of Kyushu Island. The data are apparently in error. The Japanese sources do not mention a tsunami, but report only that a strong earthquake was felt that day at Sanjo, Mitsuke, Nagaoka, Yoita and Wakino (Niigata Prefecture).

Every tsunami in 1828 The 1800s Tsunamis of Japan 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 2026-10-01. NCEI tsunami event 669.