November 25, 1953 Tsunami: Kashima, Japan

Name: November 25, 1953 Tsunami: Kashima, Japan
Start: 1953-11-25
Location: Kashima, Japan

November 25, 1953 · 3 m · 1 death · Definite tsunami

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake began at Kashima, Japan on November 25, 1953 at 17:48 UTC. The water rose as high as 3 meters. Its effects were recorded at 33 places in at least 3 countries. It killed 1 person, 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

Tsunami warnings in force

The tsunami

Date: November 25, 1953, 17:48 UTC
Source: Kashima, Japan
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: Magnitude 7.4, 60 km deep
Maximum water height: 3 m (9.8 ft)
Runups recorded: 33
Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura): 1.5
Tsunami magnitude (Iida): 1.5
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Definite tsunami
Source location: 34.000° N, 141.700° E

The toll

Deaths: 1 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Damage: Limited (under about $1 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.

Reference #414:

On November 26, 1953, at 2:48 [local time] there was a magnitude 7.5 earthquake [34.3 N, 141.8 E, depth 40-60 km] with source southeast of the Boso Peninsula, 60 km long. The earthquake was accompanied by a small tsunami, which was observed visually or registered by instruments on the coast of Sanriku, the Boso Peninsula, the prefectures of Chiba and Shizuoka, Oshima Island, the Kii Peninsula and Shikoku Island. There was almost no destruction from the tsunami, but many boats were washed away. The maximal height of rise of water, according to visual estimates, was 3 m at Choshi, although the tide gauge registered a wave only 0.5 m high at this point. The tsunami was registered by tide gauges as far as the Hawaiian and Aleutian Islands. A wave 0.2 m high was registered on Attu Island (Aleutian Islands) 4.2 hours after the earthquake. A wave was registered on Elidway Island with a height of 0.1 m and a period of 12 minutes 5.3. hours after the earthquake.

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	Measured by	First wave, UTC
Katsuura (Katsuurashi)	Japan	180	0.66	Eyewitness observation of water height
Kominato	Japan	185	1.5	Eyewitness observation of water height
Mera	Japan	200	1.82	Eyewitness observation of water height	day 25, 18:10
Mera	Japan	200	0.48	Eyewitness observation of water height
Tomisaki	Japan	201	1.8	Eyewitness observation of water height
Sotokawa	Japan	204	3	Eyewitness observation of water height
Inuwaka	Japan	204	3	Eyewitness observation of water height
Yaene, Hachijo Island	Japan	205	1.5	Eyewitness observation of water height
Naarai (Choshi City)	Japan	206	1.2	Eyewitness observation of water height
Choshi	Japan	209	3	Eyewitness observation of water height	day 25, 18:26
Choshi	Japan	209	0.5	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Oshima	Japan	230	0.17	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 25, 18:36
Ito	Japan	256	0.14	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 25, 18:06
Shimoda	Japan	264	0.8	Eyewitness observation of water height
Honze	Japan	271	0.8	Eyewitness observation of water height
Uchiura	Japan	282	0.13	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Onahama	Japan	333	0.15	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 25, 18:36
Hamamatsu	Japan	374	0.1	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 25, 20:12
Maisaka	Japan	383	0.08	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Toba	Japan	453	0.05	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Ayukawa	Japan	477	0.39	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 25, 18:54
Tsu	Japan	481	0.05	Eyewitness observation of water height
Uragami	Japan	539	0.27	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Kushimoto	Japan	551	0.37	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 25, 19:12
Miyako	Japan	628	0.12	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 25, 18:54
Taro (Tarocho)	Japan	637	0.27	Eyewitness observation of water height
Komatsushima	Japan	657	0.05	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Tosa-Shimizu	Japan	824	0.24	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 25, 19:12
Urakawa	Japan	911	0.1	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Hanasaki	Japan	1,083	0.03	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Attu, Massacre Bay, AK, AK	United States	3,254	0.2	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 25, 22:00
Midway Islands, HI	US Territories	3,932	0.1	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 25, 22:54
Hilo, Hawaii, HI, HI	United States	6,382	0.1	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)

Every tsunami in 1953 The 1900s Tsunamis of Japan The earthquake This day in weather history Alerts 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 1841.