June 15, 1911 Tsunami: Ryukyu Islands, Japan
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 8 earthquake began at Ryukyu Islands, Japan on June 15, 1911 at 14:26 UTC. Its effects were recorded at 2 places. It killed 12 people, counting the earthquake or eruption that caused it.
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
- June 15, 1911, 14:26 UTC
- Source
- Ryukyu Islands, Japan
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 8, 160 km deep
- Runups recorded
- 2
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 1.5
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- 1
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 28.000° N, 130.000° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 12 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million); Severe (about $5 to $25 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- Many (101 to 1,000); 422 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:
1911, June 15, 23:26 [local time]. Validity 2. 29 N, 129 E, depth 160 km, magnitude 8.7 MS. There was a strong earthquake which affected all the Ryukyu Islands and the south of Taiwan Island. The length of the zone in which the earthquake was felt was 1300 km. There are reports that at Chinzei (Kakeroma Island) on the evening of the same day, a tsunami was observed which washed away more than half of the homes. At Agina (Amami-o-shima Island), a fisherman also noted a change in sea level following a strong shock. The assumed travel time of the tsunami to Aburatsu was 65 minutes.
Reference #150:
1911, June 15, 23:25 [local time]. 28 N, 130 E, depth 100 km, magnitude 8.0 MS. 12 deaths, 422 houses collapsed in total by this earthquake. Tsunami inundated up Chinzei village in Oshima.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinzei, Kakeroma Island | Japan | 75 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Agina (Amami-O-Shima Island) | Japan | 279 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1911The 1900sTsunamis 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 1396.