February 9, 1928 Tsunami: British Columbia, Canada
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 5.8 earthquake began at British Columbia, Canada on February 9, 1928. Its effects were recorded at 1 place.
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 9, 1928
- Source
- British Columbia, Canada
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 5.8, 33 km deep
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Questionable tsunami
- Source location
- 49.000° N, 125.000° W
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.
February 9, 1928, 3:04 [local time], 49 N, 125 W, magnitude 5.75 MS, tsunami event validity possible. There was an earthquake with source in the region of Vancouver Island, apparently near the Alberni Canal. There were strong tremors at Port Alberni, Bamfield, on Cape Pachena, and weak ones at Vancouver, Nanaimo and Port Townsend. Tremors were also felt at Abbotsford, Duncan, Covichane, Victoria, Port Renfrew, on Tatoosh Island and Destruction Island. Small tidal waves occurred near Bamfield. (reference #415)
At Alberni it was like a loud report, and near Bamfield small tidal waves were reported. (reference #9755)
Although the tremor was distinctly felt by residents in Victoria, its most severe manifestation was at Port Alberni and Alberni where a loud report was followed by a rumbling of the earth. At about the same moment, according to reports from Bamfield, residents at the wireless station observed a wavering light in the sky and fishermen of the vicinity say the phenomena was followed by two very big waves rolling in to shore. (reference #9756)
Mr. F. Napier Denison, director of the observatory, places the location 100 miles west by north of Victoria, off Pachena Point, which appears to have been the centre of disturbance. The tremor was sufficient to occasion two exceptionally heavy waves. (reference #9757)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bamfield, British Columbia, BC | Canada | 21 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1928The 1900sTsunamis of CanadaThe 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 1591.