December 16, 1920 Tsunami: Gansu and Shanxi Provinces, China
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 8.3 earthquake began at Gansu and Shanxi Provinces, China on December 16, 1920 at 12:05:54 UTC. The water rose as high as 0.75 meters. Its effects were recorded at 4 places. It killed 235,502 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
The tsunami
- Date
- December 16, 1920, 12:05:54 UTC
- Source
- Gansu and Shanxi Provinces, China
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 8.3, 25 km deep
- Maximum water height
- 0.75 m (2.5 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 4
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- An event that only caused a seiche
- Source location
- 36.601° N, 105.317° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 235,502 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- $25 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.
The Gansu earthquake was recorded at Bergen, Norway at 12:34 p.m. local time. At about 12:40 p.m. unusual waves were observed in at least four localities in western Norway.
Reference #1876 (unofficial translation):
On December 16, 1920, there was an earthquake in Ping-Liang, Kan-Su province, inland China. Seismograms recorded in Bergen show that the superficial transverse waves arrived at 12:34. A local earthquake is not known, nor recorded by instruments or detected by the many observers in the districts of western Norway.
It must therefore be assumed that the seismic waves from the China earthquake are the result of flooding in western Norway.
As for the nature of the movement, most observers speak of a slow elevation, followed by a lowering, for a few minutes. It was like a current, spreading westwards.
In 1918, the seismic station had only small pendulums, which made it impossible to determine the actual movement.
The distance to the epicenter was 7000km.
Reference #545:
It seems probable that the movements were caused by the [Kansu] earthquake. The waves were less common and had smaller amplitudes than those which occurred during the recent Assam earthquake. This tallies with the fact that the Kansu earthquake had a magnitude of 8.5 on the Richter scale, while the magnitude of the Assam earthquake was 43.6.
Note: Reference #12345 lists local earthquake and landslide source in Norway. validity 2, questionable tsunami. (accessed August 2024)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nordfjordeid | Norway | 6,944 | 0.15 | Other | |||
| Romarheim | Norway | 7,021 | 0.2 | Other | |||
| Bergen | Norway | 7,055 | 0.4 | Other | |||
| Skjeljanger Fyr | Norway | 7,062 | 0.75 | Other |
More
Every tsunami in 1920The 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 3541.