February 13, 1963 Tsunami: E. Taiwan-Ryukyu Islands

Name: February 13, 1963 Tsunami: E. Taiwan-Ryukyu Islands
Start: 1963-02-13
Location: E. Taiwan-Ryukyu Islands

February 13, 1963 · 0.2 m · 15 deaths · Definite tsunami

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.3 earthquake began at E. Taiwan-Ryukyu Islands on February 13, 1963 at 08:50:04 UTC. The water rose as high as 0.2 meters. Its effects were recorded at 2 places in at least 2 countries. It killed 15 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

Tsunami warnings in force

Travel times

How long the first wave took to reach each part of the ocean, one line for each hour up to 24, estimated from the source and the depth of the sea.

The travel times are computed in your browser, which needs JavaScript.

1 to 4 hours
5 to 6 hours
7 to 14 hours
15 hours and more

Computed in your browser the way NOAA’s own travel time maps are: the wave travels at the square root of gravity times the depth, over NOAA’s ETOPO1 depths averaged to a 10 arc-minute grid. Checked against NOAA NCEI’s maps for 21 tsunamis over the first 24 hours, these lines fall within 10 minutes of NCEI’s at half the points compared and within 52 minutes at 9 in 10. They give when the first wave could arrive, not how high it is; bays, harbors and island chains finer than the grid can see it later. Not for use in a warning: see tsunami.gov.

The tsunami

Date: February 13, 1963, 08:50:04 UTC
Source: E. Taiwan-Ryukyu Islands
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: Magnitude 7.3, 47 km deep
Maximum water height: 0.2 m (0.7 ft)
Runups recorded: 2
Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura): -2
Tsunami magnitude (Iida): -2.3
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Definite tsunami
Source location: 24.400° N, 122.100° E

The toll

Deaths: 15 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Injuries: 18 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Damage: Moderate (about $1 to $5 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Houses destroyed: Some (about 51 to 100) 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 February 13, 1963, at 16:50 [local time], validity 4, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake on the north of Taiwan (24.5 N, 122.3 E), excited a tsunami. It was registered at Hualien with a height of 20 cm.

Reference #45:

Feb 13, 1963, at 08:50:04.5 UTC, 24.5 N, 122.1 E, depth 47 km, magnitude 7.25, four killed, 18 injured, and widespread but moderate damage in Taipei and Hsinchu. Seismic sea wave generated with 16-inch range at Hwalien.

Reference #12988:

Eastern Taiwan (24.4N, 122.1E) earthquake of Ms 7.3 triggered tsunami; tsunami scale was -1, Taiwan area had 15 people dead. (Hatori, 1994)

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
Hualien	Taiwan	69	0.2		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Pago Pago, American Samoa, AS	US Territories	8,460			Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)

Every tsunami in 1963 The 1900s Tsunamis of Taiwan 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 1940.