January 5, 1992 Tsunami: South China Sea
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 3.7 earthquake and a landslide began at South China Sea on January 5, 1992 at 06:00 UTC. The water rose as high as 0.8 meters. Its effects were recorded at 5 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
- January 5, 1992, 06:00 UTC
- Source
- South China Sea
- Cause
- Earthquake and landslide
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 3.7
- Maximum water height
- 0.8 m (2.6 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 5
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- -0.3
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 18.000° N, 108.000° E
The toll
- 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.
A series of small earthquakes with the maximum being estimated at 3.7 and with a focal depth of 8 to 12 km occurred off the southwest coast of Hainan Island, China. The tide rose abnormally beginning at 14:30 and continued until 17:00 Beijing time. It was recorded by four gages around the island including at Beibu Bay with the maximum at Yulin Station near Sanya Port with a period of about 20 minutes and a maximum amplitude of 80 cm. Fishing boats in various harbors were damaged by ramming, and many had broken anchor chains. (reference #1315)
The earthquakes took place in the sea with VI-VII earthquake intensity of the China South Sea as examination. The focus depth was 8-12 km and water depth was 100 m. Though the maximum magnitude was 3.7, eight earthquakes may have triggered the blocks which is unconsolidated submarine subsiding into more deeper oceans, then set up this tsunami. By the way it was good weather during the days. There were no storm and no strong wind. (reference #2261)
We found that the mechanism of the 1992 Hainan Island tsunami in the South China Sea is due to a submarine landslide by comparing the numerical results between earthquake and landslide [...] In 1992, earthquake swarms of magnitude 3.4–3.7 occurred near Hainan Island. Two gauges at the Yulin port and Sanya port recorded the tsunami wave around 0.78 m and 0.5–0.8 m, respectively.52 However, it is still an open question how can such a small earthquake generates a significant tsunami near Sanya, a coastal city in Hainan Island [...] According to witness evidence, the tsunami wave made the ships in ports collide, ground, and even be destroyed (reference #13341)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dongfang, Hainan Island | China | 138 | 0.23 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Yulin, Sanya, Hainan Island | China | 162 | 0.8 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Xiuying, Hainan Island | China | 329 | 0.24 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Qinglan, Hainan Island | China | 344 | 0.17 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Beibu Bay, Weizhou Island | China | 355 | 0.25 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) |
More
Every tsunami in 1992The 1900sTsunamis of ChinaThe 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 2026-10-01. NCEI tsunami event 2207.