October 22, 1855 Tsunami: N. California, United States

1855, October 21, 7:45 p.m. [Oct 22, 03:45 UTC]. Validity 1. Trask (1856, p. 88, ref #1616) reports a strong earthquake in San Francisco felt particularly in homes near the shore. "There was much commotion in the water a few minutes preceding the shock [emphasis added], which caused several vessels to heave heavily at their hawsers and cables." There was no disturbance recorded on the Fort Point marigram or mention found in the San Francisco evening Post Bulletin for October 21, 22 or 23. The fact that the "commotion" (not "wave") was reported to have been observed before the earthquake is an additional problem. This report is almost certainly a misdated entry for October 21,1854, 7:35 P.M. Latitude and longitude are estimates based on macroseismic data. (reference #237)

1855, October 21, 19:45 local time [Oct 22, 03:45 UTC]. Validity questionable (1). Ships riding at anchor were dragged with their anchors by a current for several minutes before the shock; the surface of the sea was very agitated [Perry, 1857, (ref#3336); Holden, 1898, (ref#2967); Townley, Allen, 1939, (ref#2993)] (reference #415).