December 7, 1833 Tsunami: NW. Honshu Island, Japan

Name: December 7, 1833 Tsunami: NW. Honshu Island, Japan
Start: 1833-12-07
Location: NW. Honshu Island, Japan

December 7, 1833 · 9 m · 85 deaths · 1,140 houses destroyed · Definite tsunami

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake began at NW. Honshu Island, Japan on December 7, 1833. The water rose as high as 9 meters. Its effects were recorded at 27 places. It killed 85 people, counting the earthquake or eruption that caused it.

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: December 7, 1833
Source: NW. Honshu Island, Japan
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: Magnitude 7.4
Maximum water height: 9 m (29.5 ft)
Runups recorded: 27
Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura): 2.5
Tsunami magnitude (Iida): 2.5
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Definite tsunami
Source location: 38.900° N, 139.150° E

The toll

Deaths: 50; 85 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Damage: Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
Houses destroyed: 600; 1,140 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Houses damaged: 1,790 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 #414:

December 7, 1833, at 15:00-16:00 [local time] a strong shock was felt in the area from the southern part of the coast of Akita prefecture to Sado Island, and a tsunami was observed after the earthquake. Both the earthquake and the tsunami spread to the north to Hokkaido Island, and to the south to Noto Peninsula. The tsunami, like the earthquake was strongest between Nezugaseki and Kamo.

In all, as a result of the tsunami, 360 to 600 homes (according to different sources) were washed away and about 50 people died.

Reference #150:

December 7, 1833, 38.9 N, 139.15 E, magnitude 7.4, tsunami intensity 2, validity 4. Totally 85 deaths. More than 879 houses destroyed. 48 deaths, 158 houses and 322 vessels washed away in Shonai area, 123 houses washed away in Sado.

Reference #1055:

December 7, 1833, Sado, Japan, sea waves, intensity II which corresponds to buildings may be unroofed or shattered and some may fall, the ground may be badly cracked in places and small landslips occur.

Reference #1897:

December 12, 1833. Sea wave in Sado (in connection with an earthquake): draining of the sea was observed before the arrival of the high water. [Probably an alternate date for December 7.]

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	Measured by	Deaths
Kobatao	Japan	49		Eyewitness observation of water height
Oiwagawa	Japan	49		Eyewitness observation of water height
Yura	Japan	51		Eyewitness observation of water height
Yuatsumi	Japan	51		Eyewitness observation of water height
Nezugaseki	Japan	51		Eyewitness observation of water height
Aburato	Japan	52		Eyewitness observation of water height
Kamo	Japan	53	9	Eyewitness observation of water height	15
Miyazawa	Japan	54		Eyewitness observation of water height
Sakata	Japan	61		Eyewitness observation of water height
Shonai	Japan	64		Eyewitness observation of water height
Kisakata	Japan	74		Eyewitness observation of water height	5
Masaragawa, Sado Island	Japan	92		Eyewitness observation of water height
Niigata Coast	Japan	106		Eyewitness observation of water height	23
Takachi, Sado Island	Japan	106		Eyewitness observation of water height
Sado Island	Japan	115		Eyewitness observation of water height
Tanoura, Sado Island	Japan	143		Eyewitness observation of water height
Ogi, Sado Island	Japan	144		Eyewitness observation of water height
Imaizumi	Japan	214		Eyewitness observation of water height
Aomori Prefecture	Japan	243		Eyewitness observation of water height
Wajima	Japan	258		Eyewitness observation of water height
Matsumae	Japan	291	1.2	Eyewitness observation of water height
Kanazawa	Japan	339		Eyewitness observation of water height
Hakodate	Japan	347		Eyewitness observation of water height
Omachi	Japan			Eyewitness observation of water height
Nakagawakumi	Japan			Eyewitness observation of water height
Kataarasawa	Japan			Eyewitness observation of water height
Ikagawa	Japan			Eyewitness observation of water height

Every tsunami in 1833 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 2026-09-24. NCEI tsunami event 682.