January 15, 1934 Tsunami: Bihar-Nepal, Ganges River
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 8 earthquake began at Bihar-Nepal, Ganges River on January 15, 1934 at 08:43:18 UTC. It killed 10,600 people, counting the earthquake or eruption that caused it.
Where the waves reached
The source of the tsunami. No runup with a place is recorded for it.
- 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
- January 15, 1934, 08:43:18 UTC
- Source
- Bihar-Nepal, Ganges River
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 8, 35 km deep
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- A lake or river, not the ocean
- How certain
- Probable tsunami
- Source location
- 26.773° N, 86.760° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 10,600 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- Extreme (about $25 million or more) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- Very many (over 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.
January 15, 1934, Bihar-Nepal, magnitude 8.4 MS, tsunami in Ganges river. 10,700 deaths [earthquake]. (reference #96)
More
Every tsunami in 1934The 1900sTsunamis of NepalThe 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 1668.