September 16, 1872 Tsunami: San Francisco, N. California, United States
A tsunami of unknown cause began at San Francisco, N. California, United States on September 16, 1872. The water rose as high as 0.1 meters. Its effects were recorded at 2 places.
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
The tsunami
- Date
- September 16, 1872
- Source
- San Francisco, N. California, United States
- Cause
- Unknown
- Maximum water height
- 0.1 m (0.3 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 2
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Probable tsunami
The toll
The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this tsunami.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
1872, September 16, 10:00 p.m. local time. Validity 3. Davidson reported "On the 16th and 17th of September the
tide gauge again indicated earthquake disturbances,
and, from the character of the waves, it was determined that the location of the shock was not far removed from this coast" (Yale, 1872, p. 269). It is recorded at Fort Point San Francisco at about 22:OO local time with a
maximum amplitude of four inches and a period of seven minutes. It was not visible on the Astoria record and the San Diego record was not found. Joy (1968) mentions that it was noted on all three records and this is repeated by Soloviev. This is a mistake as Davidson (Yale, 1872), Joy's only source, mentions all three stations for the August 23, 1872, event but not for this event although both are treated in the same paragraph. This is possibly from a second and smaller shock from the Aleutian Islands or an other remote source but there is no other reports known from Hawaii or anywhere else for this event. The short
period of the waves would support Davidson's conclusion of a regional source. (reference #237)
Oscillations in level of the tsunami type were recorded at Astoria, San Francisco and San Diego. There are no details available (Reference #415).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco, CA, CA | United States | 0.1 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 17, 06:00 | |||
| San Diego, CA | United States | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) |
More
Every tsunami in 1872The 1800sTsunamis of United StatesThis 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 1043.