November 16, 1938 Tsunami: Sanriku, Japan
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6.9 earthquake began at Sanriku, Japan on November 16, 1938 at 11:08:00 UTC.
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
- November 16, 1938, 11:08:00 UTC
- Source
- Sanriku, Japan
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 6.9
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Erroneous entry
- Source location
- 37.400° N, 141.600° E
The toll
The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this tsunami.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Tsunami was not traced on tide gauge. (reference #150)
More
Every tsunami in 1938The 1900sTsunamis of JapanThis 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 1726.