October 22, 1894 Tsunami: Yamagata, Japan
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7 earthquake began at Yamagata, Japan on October 22, 1894 at 08:35 UTC. It killed 726 people, counting the earthquake or eruption that caused it.
Where the waves reached
The source of the tsunami. No runup with a place is recorded for it.
- 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
- October 22, 1894, 08:35 UTC
- Source
- Yamagata, Japan
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- -1
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- -1
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 38.900° N, 139.800° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 726 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- 3,858 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.
3,858 houses destroyed. 726 deaths. 2,148 burnt houses by shock. Weak tsunami at Kisagata. (reference #150)
More
Every tsunami in 1894The 1800sTsunamis of JapanThe 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 1214.