March 11, 1933 Tsunami: S. California, United States
A tsunami of meteorological origin began at S. California, United States on March 11, 1933 at 01:54:07 UTC. The water rose as high as 0.1 meters. Its effects were recorded at 2 places. It killed 120 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
- March 11, 1933, 01:54:07 UTC
- Source
- S. California, United States
- Cause
- Meteorological
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 6.3, 16 km deep
- Maximum water height
- 0.1 m (0.3 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 2
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- -3
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- -3.3
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Very doubtful tsunami
- Source location
- 33.616° N, 117.966° W
The toll
- Deaths
- 120 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- $41 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.
Magnitude 6.3 earthquake at Long Beach. The tsunami was not observed on the San Diego, La Jolla, nor the Presidio marigrams. The Long Beach and Santa Monica marigrams show wave activity beginning before the earthquake and continuing more than 36 hours later. The emergent nature of the two readings, the early arrival times and the long duration of waves of 36 hours at Long Beach and at Santa Monica indicate a meteorological source with perhaps some seiches set up by the earthquake. Three people were killed in a reconnaissance flight crash when their plane crashed in takeoff. This is probably not a tsunami.
Harry O. Wood (Reference #3503) states: "There are no reliable reports of any conspicuous disturbance of the sea. Some disturbance in the near neighborhood must have occurred, but nothing of moment happened. Notwithstanding radio announcements and rumors there was no "tidal wave" so called."
1933, March 10, 17:54 local time. In Rothe's survey, it is suggested that the known earthquake at Long Beach was accompanied by a tsunami. Iida et al., (1967) in their catalogue, indicated that waves with an amplitude of 10 cm and a period of 19 minutes were observed in the Long Beach region, but it is noted that the data are unreliable. (Reference #415).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long Beach, CA, CA | United States | 28 | 0.1 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| La Jolla, CA, CA | United States | 106 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) |
More
Every tsunami in 1933The 1900sTsunamis of United StatesThe 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 1662.