April 9, 1928 Tsunami: S. Peru
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6.7 earthquake began at S. Peru on April 9, 1928 at 17:34:17 UTC. Its effects were recorded at 1 place. It killed 10 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
- April 9, 1928, 17:34:17 UTC
- Source
- S. Peru
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 6.7, 30 km deep
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 1
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Very doubtful tsunami
- Source location
- 13.595° S, 70.343° W
The toll
- Deaths
- 10
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- Many (101 to 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.
The earthquake on April 9, 1928 or aftershock on April 27, 1928, caused talus slides into the Esquilaya river which formed a natural dam that later broke.
April 9, 1928, 12:30. There was a destructive earthquake in south-east Peru with a source under the eastern slopes of the Andes. The strongest recurrent shock was on April 27 at 15:34. In some papers; it is apparently mistakenly indicated that in the region of Arequipa "considerable damage was done on the coast by the frequent tidal waves which followed this series of destructive shocks." Gutenberg, Richter (1954): April 9; 17h34m15s; 13 S., 69.5 W.; M=6.9. April 27; 20h34m58s; 13 S., 69.5 " W.; M=6.75. Listed as questionable tsunami. (reference #415)
On April 9, 1928, at 12:30 [local time], the Lima Observatory recorded a violent seismic movement coming from the SE. Later reports showed that a vast region of the province of Carabaya, department of Puno in the South Andes, had been shaken by an earthquake which caused serious destruction at Ayapata. From snow-capped Allinocapae Peak enormous masses of ice broke loose with a crash. According to the report of the authorities, the zone most affected comprised a rectangle 50 km from side to side, whose length was formed by part of the Esquilaya River to its debouchment into the Inambari, and whose width varied from 1 to 4 kilometers. Talus slides into the river formed a natural dam which later broke. Two were dead and eight missing as a result of the slides. (reference #1111)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inambari | Peru | 120 | 10 |
More
Every tsunami in 1928The 1900sTsunamis of PeruThe 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 1596.