September 4, 1899 Tsunami: Cape Yakataga, AK, United States
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 8.2 earthquake began at Cape Yakataga, AK, United States on September 4, 1899 at 00:22 UTC. The water rose as high as 3.1 meters. Its effects were recorded at 4 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
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
- September 4, 1899, 00:22 UTC
- Source
- Cape Yakataga, AK, United States
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 8.2
- Maximum water height
- 3.1 m (10.2 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 4
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 60.000° N, 142.000° W
The toll
- 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.
During September of 1899, the Yakutat Bay region was shaken by a series of severe earthquakes. This magnitude 7.9 earthquake was moderately strong at Yakutat but extremely violent at Cape Yakataga, 160 km to the west, where faulting probably occurred. The shock broke off the tops of trees, generated landslides, and raised the ocean beach about 1 meter. No loss of life or property occurred in the region. The shock was felt at about 30 known locations and as far away as the Yukon River, 1,100 km from Yakutat Bay. Strong aftershocks were observed on September 4, 1899.
The earthquake occurred at the half ebb. The sea receded from shore, and its level fell to full ebb tide in 20 minutes. The schooner "Bellingham" was situated 2 km (a mile) from Cape Yakataga. A strong seaquake was felt on board, and lasted about 2 minutes. On a stretch of coast at least 200 km (110 miles) long, from Icy Bay to Kayak Island, clouds of dust could be seen rising in the air from numerous avalanches, slides, and collapses; this process spread from one end of the coast to the other in about 5 minutes. An ebb tide, with a speed of about 3-4 knots, began from shore; a ship was dragged and the anchor chain stretched. After a rather long interval, the ebb tide was succeeded by a slow flood tide, which reached half the height indicated in the flood tide tables. During the day on the 4th, a ship approached Kayak Island with great difficulties. Small flood tide waves in Lynn Canal 1/4-1/2 m (1-2 feet) high were reported [these were obviously seiches, not a tsunami] (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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cape Yakataga, AK, AK | United States | 25 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Yakutat, AK, AK | United States | 137 | 3.1 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Kayak Island, AK, AK | United States | 139 | 300 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Lynn Canal, AK, AK | United States | 419 | 0.5 | Other |
More
Every tsunami in 1899The 1800sTsunamis of United StatesThe 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 1258.