February 27, 1922 Tsunami: Cebu Island, Philippines
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake began at Cebu Island, Philippines on February 27, 1922 at 20:39:50 UTC. The water rose as high as 0.7 meters. Its effects were recorded at 3 places. It killed 5 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 27, 1922, 20:39:50 UTC
- Source
- Cebu Island, Philippines
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 6.3
- Maximum water height
- 0.7 m (2.3 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 3
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 0
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- -0.5
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Questionable tsunami
- Source location
- 10.200° N, 124.100° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 5 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses damaged
- Some (about 51 to 100) 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:
1922, February 28, 4:41 [local time], 10.2 N 124.1 E, magnitude 6.25. There was an earthquake on Cebu Island. It was the strongest (or one of the strongest) since the island had been discovered by Europeans.
Unusual movements of the sea were noticed after the earthquake in the passage between Cebu and Mactan Islands and around the northern tip of Cebu Island. The underwater cable, running from the northern tip of Cebu Island to Masbate Island, as well as the cable connecting Masbate and Burias Islands, was cut on the same day, The exact time of the breakage of the cables is unknown.
Listed as possible tsunami.
Reference #79:
1922, February 27. E. Cebu, Philippines, Bohol Strait. Tsunami observed at E. Cebu and Mactan, E. Panay and W. Samar.
Reference #10958:
Unusual sea waves were observed after the quake along the passage between Cebu and Mactan island (Sieberg, 1932; Iida et al 1967). Tsunami probability is ranked as “probable”.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mactan Island | Philippines | 18 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Cebu Island | Philippines | 21 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Northern Cebu Island | Philippines | 120 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1922The 1900sTsunamis of PhilippinesThe 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 1498.