September 21, 1938 Tsunami: New Jersey Coast, United States
A tsunami of meteorological origin began at New Jersey Coast, United States on September 21, 1938. 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
The tsunami
- Date
- September 21, 1938
- Source
- New Jersey Coast, United States
- Cause
- Meteorological
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Very doubtful tsunami
- Source location
- 39.950° N, 74.120° W
The toll
- Damage
- $1.3 million
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.
Location is representative of the New Jersey coast, and is approximate.
Very doubtful tsunami. Wave action may be attributed to the storm surge of the Category 3, September 21, 1938 hurricane, called "The Long Island Express." There were storm surges of 10 to 12 feet. The USGS (Reference #1848) thoroughly studied the storm and flooding; the waves were hurricane-induced. This hurricane struck with little warning and was responsible for 600 deaths and $308 million in damage in the United States.
Woodworth (Reference #1743) cited newspaper accounts of unusually high waves that caused great damage over the New Jersey coast. Lockridge et al. (Reference #541) had earlier received this information from Woodworth and included it in their publication. They assigned each damaged area (24 locations) as a runup record. However, these are not included in the NOAA historical tsunami database as they are hurricane-related. The specific hurricane damage reports may be found in the USGS document.
Woodworth theorizes that there may also have been an offshore landslide or slump that caused the tsunami-like waves, in addition to hurricane-related waves. Lockridge et al. did not add commentary to this theory.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey Coast, NJ | United States | 0 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1938The 1900sTsunamis of United StatesThis 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 2463.