December 8, 1905 Tsunami: W. Luzon Island, Philippines

Name: December 8, 1905 Tsunami: W. Luzon Island, Philippines
Start: 1905-12-08
Location: W. Luzon Island, Philippines

December 8, 1905 · Very doubtful tsunami

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake began at W. Luzon Island, Philippines on December 8, 1905 at 08:22 UTC. Its effects were recorded at 1 place.

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: December 8, 1905, 08:22 UTC
Source: W. Luzon Island, Philippines
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: Magnitude 6.5
Runups recorded: 1
Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura): 0
Tsunami magnitude (Iida): -0.5
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Very doubtful tsunami
Source location: 11.000° N, 123.500° E

The toll

Damage: Limited (under about $1 million) 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.

Reference #414:

1905, December 8, 16:22 [local time], 11 N 12.5 E, magnitude 6.5. There was an earthquake with source in the region of the Visayan Sea. Eyewitnesses in a boat at Tagbilaran did not feel the shocks, but noticed unusual irregular waves, which suddenly appeared off the coast. (It is difficult to interpret the account: this was certainly not a seaquake, and at the same time, it is not quite like a tsunami or seiches.) Listed as questionable tsunami

Reference #1187:

1905, December 8, 4:22 p.m. Visayan: Earthquake of great extent but of relatively small intensity... Tagbilaran - oscillatory and rotary earthquake of moderate intensity; direction, N - S; duration, about 8 seconds. It was felt in the whole island of Bohol. Some who were out in boats saw peculiar, confused waves spring up suddenly along shore and it was only after landing and hearing of the earthquake that they could explain the occurrence.

Reference #10958:

1905, December 8. The unusual sea wave report came from passengers of a sea-faring vessel traveling towards Tagbilaran port. On their way to Tagbilaran, the passengers reported that they saw “confused waves suddenly spring up” (SEASEE, 1985) and it was only when they arrived at their destination that they can explain the phenomenon. No parameter for this exact event is found except in the Nakamura (1978) catalog except that the time given is 12:22 AM of December 9, 1905. Despite that the time and epicenters given by Nakamura and by SEASEE do not conform, what is clear so far that although quite far from the Nakamura and SEASEE epicenter, unusual sea waves were observed along Bohol Strait during the period December 8 to 9, 1905. Tsunami probability is ranked as “probable”.

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
Tagbilaran, Bohol Island	Philippines	155			Eyewitness observation of water height

Every tsunami in 1905 The 1900s Tsunamis of Philippines 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 1328.