July 18, 1969 Tsunami: Bohai Sea, China
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake began at Bohai Sea, China on July 18, 1969 at 05:24:50 UTC. The water rose as high as 0.1 meters. Its effects were recorded at 3 places. It killed 10 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
- July 18, 1969, 05:24:50 UTC
- Source
- Bohai Sea, China
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7.4, 6 km deep
- Maximum water height
- 0.1 m (0.3 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 3
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 38.200° N, 119.400° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 10 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Injuries
- 353 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
- 15,190 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses damaged
- 24,810 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.
Central Bohai Sea (38.2N, 119.4E) earthquake of Ms 7.4 triggered tsunami; Longkou ocean station recorded tsunami of 20 cm, Yantai ocean station recorded tsunami of 19 cm, tsunami moved to the coast near Tangshan in Hebei and flooded the coastal farmland and villages near Changli. (Ye et al., 2005) (reference #12988)
The shallow earthquake of July 18, 1969 in the Bohai Sea with an estimated Richter magnitude of M 7.4 generated a small tsunami with a height ranging from 1-2 m. above normal tide level. The tsunami was responsible for losses in the coastal region near Tangshan in the Hebei Province, but no details are available. Also, no details are available as to the height of the tide at the time of the earthquake and whether the 1 to 2 meter reported tsunami occurred at high or low tide (Pararas-Carayannis, 2008a). (reference #13093)
Reference #12989 (pg. 589) states no tsunami was generated by this 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 | Inland, m | Measured by | First wave, UTC | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tangshan, Hebei | China | 166 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Longkou | China | 0.1 | Deep ocean gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Yantai | China | 0.1 | Deep ocean gauge (half the maximum wave height) |
More
Every tsunami in 1969The 1900sTsunamis of ChinaThe 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 5800.