January 12, 1945 Tsunami: Tokaido, Japan
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake began at Tokaido, Japan on January 12, 1945 at 18:38 UTC. The water rose as high as 1 meters. Its effects were recorded at 7 places. It killed 2,306 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
- January 12, 1945, 18:38 UTC
- Source
- Tokaido, Japan
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7.1, 33 km deep
- Maximum water height
- 1 m (3.3 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 7
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- -0.5
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- -0.7
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 34.700° N, 137.200° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 2,306 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Injuries
- 896 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
- 7,221 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.
Reference #414:
On January 13, 1945, at 3:38 [local time], validity 3, there was an earthquake with source on the south of Aichi Prefecture. The earthquake caused a weak tsunami. A Gamagori and Sengen(Aichi Prefecture), waves 1 m and 0.6 in high respectively were observed.
Reference #150:
Fault 28 km long appeared.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kataharachonishiura | Japan | 9 | 0.25 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Osaki | Japan | 14 | 0.25 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Funamachi | Japan | 17 | 0.17 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Sengen | Japan | 17 | 0.31 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Morozaki | Japan | 20 | 0.2 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Gamagori | Japan | 25 | 1 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Taketoyo | Japan | 30 | 0.05 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) |
More
Every tsunami in 1945The 1900sTsunamis of JapanThe 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 1759.