July 11, 1890 Tsunami: Caspian Sea, Iran
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake began at Caspian Sea, Iran on July 11, 1890 at 07:55 UTC. Its effects were recorded at 2 places. It killed 171 people, counting the earthquake or eruption that caused it.
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
- July 11, 1890, 07:55 UTC
- Source
- Caspian Sea, Iran
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7.2, 10 km deep
- Runups recorded
- 2
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Probable tsunami
- Source location
- 36.600° N, 54.600° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 171 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- Many (101 to 1,000) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
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.
1890 July 11 Tash-Shahmd. A destructive earthquake at
dawn ruined a large area in the sparsely populated
regions of Kuh-i Shangi and Shahvar between Astarabad
(Gurgan) and Shahrud. The shock caused waves in the
Caspian Sea that were reported from all along its southern
shores between Anzali and Ashur Ada. (reference #1117)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ahur Ada | Iran | 60 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Anzali | Iran | 467 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1890The 1800sTsunamis of IranThe earthquakeThis 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 3564.