November 22, 1878 Tsunami: S. California, United States
A tsunami caused by a landslide began at S. California, United States on November 22, 1878. The water rose as high as 1 meters. Its effects were recorded at 9 places. It killed 1 person.
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
- November 22, 1878
- Source
- S. California, United States
- Cause
- Landslide
- Maximum water height
- 1 m (3.3 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 9
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 1.5
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- 2
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Probable tsunami
- Source location
- 35.180° N, 120.731° W
The toll
- Deaths
- 1
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
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.
1878, November 22. San Luis Obispo, California. One fatality, and three wharfs damaged at Point Sal, and Avila. Observed at Surf and Port Hartford. No earthquake or wind reported. Probably submarine landslide. (reference #237)
1878, November 22. According to some sources, there was a
wave 2 m (6 feet)- high at Wilmington [southern suburb of Los Angeles]. Waves, which did some damage, were observed in San Luis Obispo Bay, Surf, Sal Cape, Cape, at Port Harford, Pismo Beach, Avila, Morro Bay and Cayucos. (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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avila Beach, CA, CA | United States | 0 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Port Harford, CA, CA | United States | 2 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| San Luis Obispo Bay, CA, CA | United States | 2 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Pismo Beach, CA, CA | United States | 11 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Morro Bay, CA, CA | United States | 21 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Point Sal (Sal Cape), CA, CA | United States | 31 | Eyewitness observation of water height | 1 | |||
| Cayucos, CA, CA | United States | 32 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Surf, CA, CA | United States | 58 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Wilmington, CA, CA doubtful | United States | 276 | 1 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1878The 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 1112.