1983 Tsunami: Brownsville, WA, United States
A tsunami caused by a landslide began at Brownsville, WA, United States in 1983. The water rose as high as 0.6 meters. Its effects were recorded at 1 place.
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
- 1983
- Source
- Brownsville, WA, United States
- Cause
- Landslide
- Maximum water height
- 0.6 m (2.0 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Very doubtful tsunami
- Source location
- 47.670° N, 122.615° W
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.
Reference #13609:
[…] the exact date for one of the similar landslides (Brownsville) is not known, but was reported to have occurred in 1983. A magnitude 4.2 earthquake occurred on August 28, 1983, but it was located in excess of 0.5 kilometers (0.3 miles) from the Brownsville landslide site. This, according to Keefer (1984), would probably not have initiated a landslide.
The Brownsville landslide appears to have been a deep-seated rotational failure. Local residents reported a small 1 to 2 foot wave traveled across the bay to Bainbridge Island as a result of the landslide.
Note: Reference #13609 does not provide any citations/references for the observed waves; no other references have yet been found to corroborate the generation of tsunami waves.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bainbridge Island, WA, WA | United States | 2 | 0.6 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1983The 1900sTsunamis of United StatesAlerts 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 5889.