August 11, 1969 Tsunami: S. Kuril Islands, Russia

Name: August 11, 1969 Tsunami: S. Kuril Islands, Russia
Start: 1969-08-11
Location: S. Kuril Islands, Russia

August 11, 1969 · 5 m · Definite tsunami

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 8.2 earthquake began at S. Kuril Islands, Russia on August 11, 1969 at 21:26:36 UTC. The water rose as high as 5 meters. Its effects were recorded at 76 places in at least 8 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

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: August 11, 1969, 21:26:36 UTC
Source: S. Kuril Islands, Russia
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: Magnitude 8.2, 30 km deep
Maximum water height: 5 m (16.4 ft)
Runups recorded: 76
Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura): 2
Tsunami magnitude (Iida): 1.4
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Definite tsunami
Source location: 43.600° N, 147.900° E

The toll

Damage: Limited (under about $1 million) 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.

The maximum tsunami height (5 m) was recorded by the echo sounder from a medium-size fishing trawler in Tserkovnaya Bay on the ocean side of Shikotan Island. In the neighboring Dimitrova Bay, the vertical record of waves apparently reached 3-4 m (estimate based on marine algae, driftwood, and fragments of boxes and barrels which were thrown onto land). In other places the height of the tsunami rarely exceeded 1-1.5 m. The number of waves observed at different points varied fom three to six. The maximum number was recorded at Burevestnik (Irurup island). The wave periods varied from six to thirty minutes. The first wave was the largest everywhere.

The tide gauge records show the first wave as a rise in water level except at Yuzhno-Kurilsk where a fall was recorded first.

The tsunami appeared at the low tide and did not damage the island's coastlines. Thanks to the early warnings, measures were taken to ensure the safety of the population of coastal regions and of the fleet.

(reference #417)

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
Dimitrova Bay, Shikotan Island	Russia	91	4	Eyewitness observation of water height
Malokuril'Skaya Bay, Shikotan	Russia	92	1	Eyewitness observation of water height
Krabozavodsk, Shikotan Island	Russia	98	1	Eyewitness observation of water height
Tserkovnaya Bay, Shikotan Island	Russia	99	5	Eyewitness observation of water height
Polonsky Is.	Russia	125	1.5	Eyewitness observation of water height
Zelyenyi Is.	Russia	143	2	Eyewitness observation of water height
Yury Is.	Russia	146	1	Eyewitness observation of water height
Burevestnik, Iturup I., Kurilskiye	Russia	149	1.03	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Tanfileva Is.	Russia	161	1	Eyewitness observation of water height
Yuzhno-Kuril'Sk, Kunashir Island	Russia	171	1.05	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Nemuroko	Japan	190	1.3	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Hanasaki	Japan	192	1.29	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Abashiri	Japan	295	0.19	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Kushiro	Japan	295	0.46	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Mombetsu	Japan	373	0.17	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Tokachiko	Japan	400	0.78	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Tokachiko	Japan	400	0.7	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Hiroo	Japan	401	0.7	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Shoyagyoko	Japan	414	0.65	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Samani	Japan	438	0.67	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Urakawa	Japan	448	0.66	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Tomakomainishiko	Japan	522	0.08	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Korsakov, Sakhalin	Russia	526	0.26	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Cape Crillon (Krilon), Sakhalin I.	Russia	527	0.27	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Wakkanai	Japan	533	0.11	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Muroran	Japan	584	0.17	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Moriko	Japan	619	0.07	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Hakodate	Japan	624	0.24	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Hachinohe	Japan	627	0.55	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Hachinohe (Kensetsukyoku)	Japan	629	0.3	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Shimanokoshigyoko	Japan	644	0.38	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Matua, Kurilskiye	Russia	649	0.13	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Miyako	Japan	660	0.32	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Aomori	Japan	664	0.11	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Kamaishi	Japan	696	0.16	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Ofunatoko	Japan	721	0.34	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Ofunato	Japan	724	0.16	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Poronaysk, Sakhalin	Russia	724	0.12	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Kesennumagyoko	Japan	742	0.44	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Onagawa	Japan	789	0.24	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Ayukawa	Japan	797	0.35	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Somako	Japan	870	0.14	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Onahama	Japan	949	0.2	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Hitachiko	Japan	1,002	0.25	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Severo-Kurilsk, Paramushir Island	Russia	1,004	0.2	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Choshi	Japan	1,059	0.22	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Mera	Japan	1,188	0.18	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Mera	Japan	1,188	0.27	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Minami-Izu	Japan	1,264	0.1	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Miyake Island	Japan	1,285	0.1	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Kozushima	Japan	1,288	0.06	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Omaezaki	Japan	1,301	0.13	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Owase	Japan	1,463	0.17	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Uragami	Japan	1,526	0.15	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Kushimoto	Japan	1,540	0.3	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Murotomisaki	Japan	1,655	0.21	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Kochi	Japan	1,671	0.08	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Tosa-Shimizu	Japan	1,771	0.16	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Kamaegyoko	Japan	1,836	0.12	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Aburatsu	Japan	1,967	0.12	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Nishinoomote	Japan	2,064	0.02	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Attu, Massacre Bay, AK, AK	United States	2,126	0.1	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Naze	Japan	2,357	0.1	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Wake Island, UM	US Territories	3,213	0.12	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Midway Islands, HI	US Territories	3,534	0.2	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Kwajalein, Marshall Islands, MH doubtful	Marshall Islands	4,317	0.1	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Nawiliwili, Kauai, HI, HI	United States	5,384	0.2	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Mokuoloe-Coconut Is, Oahu, HI	United States	5,545	0.1	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Honolulu, Oahu, HI, HI	United States	5,548	0.2	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Kahului, Maui, HI, HI	United States	5,689	0.22	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Hilo, Hawaii, HI, HI	United States	5,885	0.2	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Tofino (Clayoquot),british Columbia, BC	Canada	6,291	0.03	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 12, 06:25
Port Alberni, British Columbia, BC	Canada	6,356	0.07	Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 12, 15:15
Pago Pago, American Samoa, AS	US Territories	7,667		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
La Libertad	Ecuador	13,377
La Punta	Peru	14,473	0.1

Every tsunami in 1969 The 1900s Tsunamis of Russia 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 2015.