May 27, 1995 Tsunami: Sakhalin Island, Russia
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake began at Sakhalin Island, Russia on May 27, 1995 at 13:03:52 UTC. The water rose as high as 0.1 meters. Its effects were recorded at 2 places. It killed 1,989 people, counting the earthquake or eruption that caused it.
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
- May 27, 1995, 13:03:52 UTC
- Source
- Sakhalin Island, Russia
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7.1, 11 km deep
- Maximum water height
- 0.1 m (0.3 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 2
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- -2
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- -2.3
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 52.629° N, 142.827° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 1,989 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Injuries
- 750 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- $300 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.
Sakhalin (Neftegorsk), Russia Earthquake
and Possible Tsunami of May 27, 1995
The far eastern island of Sakhalin in the Russian Federation was hit by a devastating earthquake of surface wave magnitude 7.6 during the early morning hours of May 27, 1995 when most of the residents of the town of Neftegorsk were sound asleep. Following intensive rescue efforts by local officials and other authorities from the Federation, numerous survivors were found, however, over 1,500 people lost their lives from this earthquake that reduced apartment buildings in Neftegorsk to heaps of
rubble. The town of Neftegorsk, before the earthquake, had a
population of 2,997. According to a preliminary report filed in early June by Alexei Ivashchenko and Victor Kaistrenko, two Federation scientific investigation teams comprised of the Seismological Party and Institute of Marine Geology and Geophysics are at the earthquake
region collecting macroseismic data and traces of possible
small tsunami. One group reported that a small but not distinct tsunami due to this event occurred on the Okhotsk Sea coast near the settlements of Sabo and Val according to information from fishermen that were on the coast the night of the event. They reported that near Sabo "ice on the Okhotsk sea started to go to the coast after the earthquake", and, near Val, "water waves came to the river mouth after the earthquake." Another report stated there was small wave action of about 20 cm near the mouth of the Sabo River in the Piltun Gulf. Preliminary information from the nearest tide gauge at Nogliki (about 150 km to the south from Neftegorsk) indicates no tsunami was recorded.
A Japanese seismological team has joined the tearns from
Russia and have installed a local seismic network that is
registering about 500 (small) aftershocks per day. (reference #2276)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Val, Sakhalin Is. | Russia | 35 | |||||
| Sabo, Sakhalin Is. | Russia | 57 | 0.1 |
More
Every tsunami in 1995The 1900sTsunamis of RussiaThe 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 2247.