April 16, 1877 Tsunami: N. to S. California, United States
A tsunami of meteorological origin began at N. to S. California, United States on April 16, 1877. The water rose as high as 1.8 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
- April 16, 1877
- Source
- N. to S. California, United States
- Cause
- Meteorological
- Maximum water height
- 1.8 m (5.9 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 2
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 2
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- 1.8
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Very doubtful tsunami
- Source location
- 35.000° N, 120.000° W
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.
There were accounts of minor earthquakes on the 9th and 13th, and a sea storm on the 16th. The irregularity in the tides at Cayucos could be storm-generated seiches. (Ref #237, Lander, 1993).
Ref #415 (Soloviev, 1975) reports a light earthquake was felt in San Luis Obispo Bay on April 16, 1877 at 6:00 Local Time. According to dubious data, a tsunami 3.5 m (12 feet) high was observed at Cayucos and Anaheim Landing. It is possible that this has been confused with the Chilean tsunami of 10.V.1877.
This is probably the same storm described above on the 16th by Ref #237.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cayucos, CA, CA | United States | 94 | 1.8 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Anaheim Landing, CA, CA | United States | 223 | 1.8 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1877The 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 1069.