February 13, 1918 Tsunami: Guangdong Province, China
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake and a landslide began at Guangdong Province, China on February 13, 1918 at 06:07:13 UTC. Its effects were recorded at 1 place. It killed 2,000 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
- February 13, 1918, 06:07:13 UTC
- Source
- Guangdong Province, China
- Cause
- Earthquake and landslide
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7.5, 33 km deep
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- -1
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- 1
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Probable tsunami
- Source location
- 23.500° N, 117.200° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 2,000 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Injuries
- Very many (over 1,000) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- Extreme (about $25 million or more) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- Very many (over 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.
February, 13, 1918, 14:07 local time, 23.5 N, 117 E, magnitude 7.5, Swatow, moderate tsunami. (reference #150)
Shantou (Swatow): Rocky hills along the coast opposite Chilu collapsed and the sea surged high. (reference #3939)
Nanao (23.5N, 117.2E) earthquake of Ms 7.3 in Guangdong triggered tsunami; Tsunami’s wave height was as high as 7.5 m, lasted for 14 h, damaged 500 houses along the coast and 50 boats, and led to 250 deaths. (Hai, 1993) (reference #12988)
A sea wave with 7-meter high was reported to be associated with this earthquake (c.f. NTOU, n.d.; Ye et al. 1993). However, the source of information is considered as unreliable for two reasons. First, the period of the wave was reported to be in seconds, which is far too short for a tsunami. Second, none of the sources of information are contemporary reports. Based on contemporary reports, this event did not pass the confirmation due to two reasons. First, it was reported that the rumor about a catastrophic tidal wave in Amoy was not true [Q14]. The damage in Amoy was reported to be slight and no sea-surge was observed (Shen Bao, 23rd January 1918). Second, it was reported that westerners in Shantou took refuge on ships (Shen Bao, 26th January 1918), which is an unusual behaviour if the coast was just attacked by a tsunami. (reference #10200)
The tsunami phenomenon was clearly observed and documented along the coastlines of Guangdong and Fujian provinces after the earthquake. The “Compilation of Chinese historical earthquake data” mentions that “At 14:07 on 13 February of 1918 (the 7th year of the Republic of China, the third day of the new year in Lunar calendar), an earthquake with M7.3 occurred in Nan’ao region (23.60°N, 117.3°E) in Guangdong province. In Tong’an, Fujia province, the ground experienced strongly shaking, and the seawater receded before rose again, sank many ships. In Shantou, Guangdong province, a ship was moored in the harbour, but was stranded after the earthquake” (Xie and Cai, 1983). The phenomenon including “the seawater receded and rose again” and “ships were stranded after the earthquake” indicate that the coastal regions had experienced a leading-negative tsunami wave, most likely caused by the co-seismic subsidence during the earthquake. (reference #13340)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shantou | China | 56 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1918The 1900sTsunamis of ChinaThe 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 1451.