March 31, 1979 Tsunami: Nagasaki, Japan
A tsunami of meteorological origin began at Nagasaki, Japan on March 31, 1979. The water rose as high as 4.8 meters. Its effects were recorded at 2 places. It killed 3 people.
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
- March 31, 1979
- Source
- Nagasaki, Japan
- Cause
- Meteorological
- Maximum water height
- 4.8 m (15.7 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 2
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Probable tsunami
The toll
- Deaths
- 3
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 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 strongest known event in this bay was on 31 March 1979, when the maximum instrumentally recorded wave in the middle of the upper harbour (located in the upper part of the bay) was 2.79 m, and the reconstructed height at the head of the harbour was 4.8 m (Hibiya and Kajiura 1982; Rabinovich 2009); that event was responsible for the death of three people. (reference #12544)
In particular, the "abiki" waves of 31 March 1979 with a period of about 35 min reached a wave height of 478 cm at the northern end of the bay and killed three people (Akamatsu, 1982;Hibiya and Kajiura, 1982 = HK in the following text). (reference #10293)
Currents induced by meteotsunamis can also cause fatalities. For example, the “abiki” (a local term for meteotsunamis in southeastern Japan) of 31 March 1979, caused the drowning of three people when their boat was damaged by meteotsunami‐induced currents (Hibiya & Kajiura, 1982). (reference #14271)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nagasaki | Japan | 1.4 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Nagasaki | Japan | 4.8 | Runup height, post-tsunami survey |
More
Every tsunami in 1979The 1900sTsunamis of JapanThis 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 5732.