April 25, 1992 Tsunami: Cape Mendocino, N. California, United States
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake began at Cape Mendocino, N. California, United States on April 25, 1992 at 18:06:04 UTC. The water rose as high as 1.8 meters. Its effects were recorded at 14 places.
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
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
- April 25, 1992, 18:06:04 UTC
- Source
- Cape Mendocino, N. California, United States
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7.2, 15 km deep
- Maximum water height
- 1.8 m (5.9 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 14
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 0.5
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- 0.8
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 40.368° N, 124.316° W
The toll
- Injuries
- 98 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- $66 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.
Two vehicles covered with sand by the tsunami
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Spit, Humboldt Bay, CA, CA | United States | 45 | 0.2 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 25, 18:32 | ||
| Clam Beach, CA, CA | United States | 70 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Trinidad, CA, CA | United States | 78 | 0.9 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Crescent City, CA, CA | United States | 153 | 0.55 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 25, 18:53 | ||
| Arena Cove, CA, CA | United States | 170 | 0.12 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 25, 18:43 | ||
| Port Orford, OR, OR | United States | 264 | 0.05 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 25, 18:56 | ||
| Point Reyes, CA, CA | United States | 288 | 0.11 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 25, 19:15 | ||
| Fort Point, CA, CA | United States | 326 | 0.03 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Alameda, CA, CA | United States | 337 | 0.04 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Monterey, CA, CA | United States | 468 | 0.03 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Port San Luis, CA, CA | United States | 656 | 0.07 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Arcadia, CA, CA | United States | 888 | 0.11 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Hilo, Hawaii, HI, HI | United States | 3,712 | 0.04 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Kahului, Maui, HI, HI | United States | 3,730 | 0.08 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) |
More
Every tsunami in 1992The 1900sTsunamis of United StatesThe 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 2208.