December 18, 1867 Tsunami: E. China Sea, Taiwan

Ref #414:

1867, December 18, morning. Validity 4. A strong earthquake, lasting about 15 seconds, occurred on the north of Taiwan Island.

After the earthquake, the water left Chilung harbor, exposing the bottom. There were no large ships in the harbor at that time, and all the Chinese junks ran aground. After a moment, these boats were picked up by the returning enormous roller. Some of them were sunk, while the rest were tossed with enormous speed into the city which was also flooded; the few homes surviving the earthquake were thus destroyed. An enormous number of fish was washed ashore and quickly gathered by the population

[It was not possible to find reports about the appearance of this tsunami in Japan. Perry cites reports from London and New York published in the "Times" of February 11 and 12, 1868 that an earthquake which frightened the inhabitants occurred at Shanghai. The date of the earthquake is not mentioned, Another survey ... mentions that in 1867 (date and month not indicated), an unusual flood tide was observed at Hangchow (China). The level of the Yantzekiang River suddenly dropped 135 cm (4 feet 6 inches) and then rose 165 cm (5 1/2 feet) in 48 hours. It is possible that this was an effect of the Taiwan tsunami.]

Ref #1068:

December 18, 1867, Keelung T., more than 200 people killed, In 1867 a wave swept the harbor of Keelung, northeast of Formosa; great landslides occurred.

Ref #150:

December 18, 1867, Chilung (Keelung), Taiwan, 25.5 N, 121.7 E, magnitude 7. After quake, water run out of harbor. Number of ships and houses washed away. Several hundred people drowned.

Ref #79:

December 18, 1867, near N. Taiwan, after quake, water ran out of harbor, stranded junks swamped by returning wave or swept into town smashing houses. 100 dead.

Ref #11499:

Tang (1971) and Yang et al. (1983) considered that a submarine volcanic eruption located around 134 km northeast of Keelung Harbor (26.183˚N, 122.458˚E) was the primary cause of the tsunami; (2) Hsu (1983) and Tsai (1985) had different views on the location of the epicenter, but agreed that the tsunami was caused by an earthquake and a fault; (3) Ma and Lee (1997), however, believed that the tsunami was the result of an earthquake, a landslide, a volcanic eruption and coastal landform; and (4) Wu (2013) thought that an underwater landslide triggered by an earthquake was the cause of the tsunami [...] Apart from the damage known for Keelung where it is only known that hundreds were killed and injured, the available documents show that at least 580 were killed, 70 or 80 people were swallowed up by the tsunami in Jinshan and more than 100 were injured. The earthquake demolished around 100 houses and 200 houses were inundated along the coast. Numerous houses were half collapsed and partially damaged.

Ref #11906:

On December 18, 1867, an earthquake occurred near Keelung at around 9:00. Keelung was damaged in the earthquake. There were 30 deaths in Danshui and more than 150 deaths in Taipei. It is recorded that the seawater in Keelung harbor receded, and some areas were dry. All the floaters were swept out by the seawater. Then, the seawater came back in the form of two huge waves whose height is 7.5 m. Ships and boats were turned over or pushed ashore and the buildings near the coast were all collapsed. Hundreds of people were drowned in Taipei, Keelung, Yilan and Hualian. At the same time, the submarine volcano erupted. It is the only records of earthquake, tsunami and volcanic eruption occurred at the same time in China. (Wang et al. 2005).

Ref #12988:

the tsunami on December 18, 1867, the water broke the seawall in Keelung, quickly ran to the city, destroyed houses and killed hundreds of people