May 5, 1930 Tsunami: Myanmar Coast
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake began at Myanmar Coast on May 5, 1930 at 13:46:01 UTC. The water rose as high as 1.06 meters. Its effects were recorded at 1 place. It killed 500 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
- May 5, 1930, 13:46:01 UTC
- Source
- Myanmar Coast
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7.4, 35 km deep
- Maximum water height
- 1.06 m (3.5 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 17.733° N, 96.406° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 500 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Many (101 to 1,000)
- Houses damaged
- 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.
One of the worst earthquakes ever felt in Burma [Mynamar] occurred on May 5, 1930 at 13:45:58 UTC. The ancient seaport of Pegu was almost entirely destroyed by the earthquake and sea wave (tsunami) which followed it. The earthquake caused the practical destruction of the town of Pegu with the loss of at least 500 lives. (reference #1185)
Only tonight is it possible to estimate the full effects of the appalling earthquake which yesterday wrought havoc in Burma [Myanmar] and shattered the town of Pegu, 58 miles north of Rangoon, which was afterward almost completely destroyed by fire. Between 5,000 and 7,000 persons perished in southern Burma [Mynamar], either in the first crash of falling buildings or in the fire and tidal waves [tsunami] along the Sittang River which followed quickly after the nerve-shattering earthquake. The heaviest casualties occurred in the vicinity of the famous Shwe-Dagon pagoda. (reference #2706)
The ancient seaport of Pegu was almost entirely destroyed by the earthquake and a sea wave which followed it. Hundreds of people were reported killed or injured. (reference #2709)
The ships anchored in the Bago port were lifted approximately 1.06 m by a tsunami. The rise of water was considered caused by a local tsunami. No tsunami was reported in Bangladesh and tide gauge stations in the east coast of India had not report any rise of water during the earthquake in Bago. No loss of lives was reported by tsunami. (reference #12149)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pegu (Bago), Sittang River | Myanmar | 49 | 1.06 | Eyewitness observation of water height | 500 |
More
Every tsunami in 1930The 1900sTsunamis of MyanmarThe 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 3052.