November 20, 1906 Tsunami: Gold Coast, Ghana

Name: November 20, 1906 Tsunami: Gold Coast, Ghana
Start: 1906-11-20
Location: Gold Coast, Ghana

November 20, 1906 · Probable tsunami

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 5 earthquake began at Gold Coast, Ghana on November 20, 1906 at 21:00 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

The tsunami

Date: November 20, 1906, 21:00 UTC
Source: Gold Coast, Ghana
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: Magnitude 5
Runups recorded: 1
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Probable tsunami
Source location: 6.500° N, 0.300° E

The toll

Damage: Moderate (about $1 to $5 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.

November 20, 1906, 21:00 UTC, Ghana, 6.5 N, 0.3 E, MF 5.0, intensity VIII. An abnormal fluctuation of the sea level was noticed on the coast of Togo, where the sea flooded the coast a number of times to a depth of a few tens of metres, but without damage. (reference #1214)

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
Togo	Togo	122			Eyewitness observation of water height

Every tsunami in 1906 The 1900s Tsunamis of Ghana 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 3559.