October 20, 1963 Tsunami: S. Kuril Islands, Russia
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.9 earthquake began at S. Kuril Islands, Russia on October 20, 1963 at 00:53:10 UTC. The water rose as high as 15 meters. Its effects were recorded at 22 places in at least 7 countries.
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
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
- October 20, 1963, 00:53:10 UTC
- Source
- S. Kuril Islands, Russia
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7.9, 28 km deep
- Maximum water height
- 15 m (49.2 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 22
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 3
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- 3.9
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 44.772° N, 150.563° 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.
1963, October 20, 00:53:12.1 UTC. 44.78 N, 150.24 E, depth 60 km, magnitude 7.4. Aftershock of 10/13; tsunamis in Friz Sound region. (reference #223)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urup Island, Cape Van Der Linda | Russia | 128 | 15 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Iturup Island, September Bay | Russia | 172 | 8 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Burevestnik, Iturup I., Kurilskiye | Russia | 233 | 0.5 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Iturup Island, Kurilskiye | Russia | 243 | 0.3 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Malokuril'Skaya Bay, Shikotan | Russia | 315 | 0.8 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Yuzhno-Kuril'Sk, Kunashir Island | Russia | 384 | 0.5 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Sernovodsk, Kunashir | Russia | 405 | 0.5 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Matua, Kurilskiye | Russia | 422 | 0.4 | ||||
| Hanasaki | Japan | 433 | 0.36 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Kushiro | Japan | 536 | 0.15 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Hachinohe | Japan | 877 | 0.25 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Midway Islands, HI | US Territories | 3,377 | 0.2 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 20, 05:29 | ||
| Truk Islands, Caroline Islands | Micronesia | 4,147 | 0.1 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 20, 06:05 | ||
| Kwajalein, Marshall Islands, MH | Marshall Islands | 4,323 | 0.1 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 20, 07:17 | ||
| Nawiliwili, Kauai, HI, HI | United States | 5,198 | 0.1 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Haleiwa, Oahu, HI, HI | United States | 5,321 | 0.1 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Mokuoloe-Coconut Is, Oahu, HI | United States | 5,358 | 0.1 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Honolulu, Oahu, HI, HI | United States | 5,361 | 0.1 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 20, 07:59 | ||
| Kahului, Maui, HI, HI | United States | 5,499 | 0.4 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Hilo, Hawaii, HI, HI | United States | 5,696 | 0.1 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Pago Pago, American Samoa, AS | US Territories | 7,621 | 0.1 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 20, 10:41 | ||
| Tahiti | French Polynesia | 9,193 | day 20, 13:00 |
More
Every tsunami in 1963The 1900sTsunamis of RussiaThe 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 1948.