Tsunamis in 1918

November 8, 1918 Tsunami: S. Kuril Islands, Russia

November 8, 1918 · 0.5 m · Definite tsunami

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake began at S. Kuril Islands, Russia on November 8, 1918 at 04:38 UTC. The water rose as high as 0.5 meters. Its effects were recorded at 8 places in at least 4 countries.

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
November 8, 1918, 04:38 UTC
Source
S. Kuril Islands, Russia
Cause
Earthquake
Maximum water height
0.5 m (1.6 ft)
Runups recorded
8
Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
2
Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
1
Waters
Ocean
How certain
Definite tsunami
Source location
44.500° N, 151.500° E

The toll

The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this tsunami.

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

1918, November [?I]. On November 8, 1918, at 4 hrs , 38 min Greenwich time (13 hrs. 38 min. Japan time) seismological stations registered an earthquake on the coasts of Urup and Iturup with an intensity of H = 7 3/4. In the catalog of Omori (1923) it is indicated that on November 8 there was a strong earthquake, accompanied by a large tsunami, in the area of the islands of Urup and Iturup. The time of occurrence of the earthquake is not given. In later Japanese lists there is no reference to a tsunami on that date. It can be presumed, therefore, that in compiling his list, Omori mistakenly noted the tsunami of September 8 twice: for September and November (the IXth and XIth months). (reference #413)

1918, November 8,04:38 GMT. A magnitude 7.75 earthquake occurred in the same area as the above shock. It is somewhat controversial as Iida gives it as a second tsunami while Soloviev and Ferchev (1961) believed it was a duplicate report of the September event. It was recorded

at the Presidio with an amplitude of 1 inch and as a "trace" at San Diego. Validity 4. (reference #237)

Every runup

Nearest the source first. Heights are above sea level at the time; a tide gauge reads half the wave’s full height.

WhereCountryKm from sourceWater height, mInland, mMeasured byFirst wave, UTCDeaths
Urup Island, KurilskiyeRussia195
Iturup Island, KurilskiyeRussia320Eyewitness observation of water height
HanasakiJapan495
AyukawaJapan1,082
Chichijima IslandJapan2,1030.5Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Tofino (Clayoquot),british Columbia, BCCanada6,0010.04Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)day 8, 13:47
San Francisco, CA, CAUnited States6,9170.03Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)day 8, 14:15
San Diego, CA, CAUnited States7,6450.1Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)

More

Every tsunami in 1918The 1900sTsunamis of RussiaThe 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 1460.