June 4, 1893 Tsunami: S. Kuril Islands, Russia

Name: June 4, 1893 Tsunami: S. Kuril Islands, Russia
Start: 1893-06-04
Location: S. Kuril Islands, Russia

June 4, 1893 · 2.5 m · Definite tsunami

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7 earthquake began at S. Kuril Islands, Russia on June 4, 1893 at 02:27:00 UTC. The water rose as high as 2.5 meters. Its effects were recorded at 3 places in at least 2 countries.

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

Tsunami warnings in force

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: June 4, 1893, 02:27:00 UTC
Source: S. Kuril Islands, Russia
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: Magnitude 7
Maximum water height: 2.5 m (8.2 ft)
Runups recorded: 3
Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura): 1.5
Tsunami magnitude (Iida): 1.6
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Definite tsunami
Source location: 43.300° N, 147.500° E

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.

Honda et al. (1908) (ref#1897) states: "June 4, 1893. Sea waves in Kurile Islands (Chishima); at Shibetori periods of 5 waves estimated were 20-30 minutes."

In the annual repoort of the Central Meteorological Observatory of Japan for 1893 it is reported that on June 4 at 2:27pm an earthquake was felt on Hokkaido in the Nemuro and Kushiro districts and on the southern Kurile Is.; it was especially strong on Shikotan. The area shaken amounted to approximately 125,000 km2; the magnitude of the quake as evaluated by the Japanese service was 6-½. The quake was accompanied by a tsunami, which at Shikotan reached 2-3 m. (reference #413)

Shikotan Is. 2.5m, lturup Is. 1 .5m high. Five waves of period 20- 30 min. (reference #150)

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	Measured by
Shikotan Island, Kurilskiye	Russia	81	2.5	Eyewitness observation of water height
Shibetori, Iturup Is., Kurilskiye	Russia	259	1.5	Eyewitness observation of water height
Hokkaido, West Coast doubtful	Japan	371	2.5	Eyewitness observation of water height

Every tsunami in 1893 The 1800s Tsunamis of Russia The earthquake This day in weather history Alerts 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 1203.