March 22, 1840 Tsunami: Philippine Sea, Philippines
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake began at Philippine Sea, Philippines on March 22, 1840. Its effects were recorded at 1 place. It killed 52 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
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
- March 22, 1840
- Source
- Philippine Sea, Philippines
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 6.5
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 1
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- 1
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Very doubtful tsunami
- Source location
- 12.900° N, 123.900° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 35; 52 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Injuries
- 200 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million); Severe (about $5 to $25 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- Many (101 to 1,000) 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:
On 1840, March 22, 1840 in the morning there was an earthquake in Sorsogon Province on Luzon Island. The shore of Sorsogon Bay subsided 1 1/2 m (5 feet). The bottom of the bay also subsided, and where proas used to run aground, ships with a large draught now began to cast anchor. The sea inundated a large area of the coast and the homes nearest to the shore line. According to some sources, 35 people drowned. [There is no direct information about a tsunami, but the possibility of a tsunami is not excluded.] Listed as questionable tsunami
Reference #79:
1840, March 22, Sorsogon Bay, S.E. Luzon. Tsunami observed Luzon, Sorsogon. N. coast of Sorsogon Bay sank 1.5 m. 35 drowned. Event not listed by Saderra 1895 nor by Repetti 1946.
Reference #1072:
1840. In Sorsogon Bay extensive subsidences occurred; the sea invaded the town, causing great destruction and claiming many victims.
Reference #1187:
1840, March 22, morning. In Albay [province] the church was destroyed by the quake; as a result of the earthquake, the bottom of the bay of Sorsogon seemed to have undergone some change; the sea invaded a great part of the beach and the houses which were nearest the shore.
Reference #10958:
1840, March 22. Listed tsunami probability ranking is a "positive"
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N. Sorsogon Bay | Philippines | 6 | Eyewitness observation of water height | 35 |
More
Every tsunami in 1840The 1800sTsunamis of PhilippinesThe 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 719.