June 10, 1975 Tsunami: S. Kuril Islands, Russia

Name: June 10, 1975 Tsunami: S. Kuril Islands, Russia
Start: 1975-06-10
Location: S. Kuril Islands, Russia

June 10, 1975 · 5.5 m · Definite tsunami

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7 earthquake began at S. Kuril Islands, Russia on June 10, 1975 at 13:47:14 UTC. The water rose as high as 5.5 meters. Its effects were recorded at 52 places in at least 6 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: June 10, 1975, 13:47:14 UTC
Source: S. Kuril Islands, Russia
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: Magnitude 7, 15 km deep
Maximum water height: 5.5 m (18.0 ft)
Runups recorded: 52
Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura): 2
Tsunami magnitude (Iida): 2.3
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Definite tsunami
Source location: 43.024° N, 147.734° E

The toll

Damage: Moderate (about $1 to $5 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.

The earthquake occurred south of the Kuril Islands. It generated a fairly strong tsunami that was observed on the coast of the southern part of the Kuril Islands and in Hokkaido and was recorded on tide gauges in Alaska and Hawaii.

The eastern coast of Kunashir Island was flooded in places up to the 5-meter mark above sea level. Bridges and roads were damaged. Many fishing camps located near the coast were destroyed. Supplies and equipment were washed away. The tsunami did not cause damage in Kuril'sk or Malokuril'skoye.

The tsunami was reported along the entire Pacific Coast of Japan, from Nemuro Peninsula (Hokkaido) to Kyushyu Island. It was also reported at Chichijima, the Bonin Islands, and on the Okhotsk Sea coast of Hokkaido. However, it did not cause damage at any of these places.

The tsunami was recorded by all instruments in Japan with a rise in water level, while in the southern Kuril Islands it began with a drop in water level. (above from 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	Inland, m	Measured by	First wave, UTC
Vinai River, Kunashir Island	Russia	120	3	150	Eyewitness observation of water height
Malokuril'Skaya Bay, Shikotan	Russia	120	0.6		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Krabozavodsk, Shikotan Island	Russia	121	1.5		Eyewitness observation of water height
Polonsky Is.	Russia	131	2.3		Eyewitness observation of water height
Zelyenyi Is.	Russia	141	1		Eyewitness observation of water height
Yury Is.	Russia	141	1		Eyewitness observation of water height
Goyomaiko	Japan	162	0.2		Eyewitness observation of water height
Onnemotoko	Japan	163	0.3		Eyewitness observation of water height
Habomai	Japan	164	0.3		Eyewitness observation of water height
Okineppu	Japan	169	0.5		Eyewitness observation of water height
Hanasaki	Japan	178	0.95		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Chobushi	Japan	179	0.2		Eyewitness observation of water height
Ochiishiko	Japan	181	0.4		Eyewitness observation of water height
Yuzhno-Kuril'Sk, Kunashir Island	Russia	188	0.55		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Goryachly Plyazh, Kunashir	Russia	190	3	60	Eyewitness observation of water height
Burevestnik, Iturup I., Kurilskiye	Russia	212	0.44		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Kushiro	Japan	274	0.13		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Abashiri	Japan	300	0.16		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Tokachiko	Japan	370	0.32		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Hiroo	Japan	371	0.26		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)	day 10, 14:45
Urakawa	Japan	419	0.38		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Wakkanai	Japan	551	0.02		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Cape Crillon (Krilon), Sakhalin I.	Russia	551	0.18		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Muroran	Japan	561	0.03		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Korsakov, Sakhalin	Russia	561	0.1		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Hachinohe	Japan	585	0.22		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Moriko	Japan	595	0.04		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Miyako	Japan	610	0.19		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Kamaishi	Japan	644	0.14		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Ofunato	Japan	671	0.18		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Matua, Kurilskiye	Russia	708	0.19		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Ayukawa	Japan	743	0.14		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Poronaysk, Sakhalin	Russia	775	0.11		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Somako	Japan	815	0.11		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Onahama	Japan	893	0.13		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Hitachiko	Japan	945	0.14		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Oaraiko	Japan	963	0.15		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Severo-Kurilsk, Paramushir Island	Russia	1,064	0.05		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Miyake Island	Japan	1,226	0.2		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Kozushima	Japan	1,230	0.1		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Yaene, Hachijo Island	Japan	1,303	0.09		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Kushimoto	Japan	1,487	0.1		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Tosa-Shimizu	Japan	1,722	0.1		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Chichijima Island	Japan	1,837	0.22		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Attu, Massacre Bay, AK, AK	United States	2,176	0.03		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Adak, Sweeper Cove, AK, AK doubtful	United States	2,828	0.1		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Wake Island, UM	US Territories	3,172	0.05		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Truk Islands, Caroline Islands	Micronesia	3,972	0.09		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Kwajalein, Marshall Islands, MH	Marshall Islands	4,271	0.12		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Sitka, AK, AK doubtful	United States	5,409	0.03		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Kahului, Maui, HI, HI	United States	5,694	0.06		Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height)
Nepokornyi Cape, Shikotan Island	Russia		5.5		Eyewitness observation of water height

Every tsunami in 1975 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 2075.