June 10, 1996 Tsunami: Andreanof Islands, AK, United States
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.9 earthquake began at Andreanof Islands, AK, United States on June 10, 1996 at 04:03:35 UTC. The water rose as high as 0.51 meters. Its effects were recorded at 65 places in at least 8 countries.
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
- June 10, 1996, 04:03:35 UTC
- Source
- Andreanof Islands, AK, United States
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7.9, 33 km deep
- Maximum water height
- 0.51 m (1.7 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 65
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 0.5
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 51.564° N, 177.632° 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.
This earthquake 60 miles west-southwest of Adak was widely recorded in Alaska, Hawaii, and the United States west coast Resulting tsunamis were detected by DART buoys AK71 (latitude 53.4230, longitude 157.2780), AK72 (latitude 52.0390, longitude 158.7510), and AK73 (latitude 52.0181, longitude 155.7235), all off the shore of Alaska.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adak, Sweeper Cove, AK, AK | United States | 77 | 0.51 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 10, 04:35 | ||
| Shemya Island, AK, AK | United States | 580 | 0.08 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 10, 05:38 | ||
| Unalaska, Dutch Harbor, AK, AK | United States | 792 | 0.06 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 10, 06:10 | ||
| Sand Point, AK, AK | United States | 1,209 | 0.05 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 10, 06:42 | ||
| Ak72 Bpr, Alaska Array, AK | United States | 1,300 | Deep ocean gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 10, 05:52 | |||
| Ak70 Bpr, Alaska Array, AK | United States | 1,314 | Deep ocean gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 10, 06:07 | |||
| Ak71 Bpr, Alaska Array, AK | United States | 1,393 | Deep ocean gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 10, 06:05 | |||
| Ak73 Bpr, Alaska Array, AK | United States | 1,507 | Deep ocean gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 10, 06:07 | |||
| Kodiak, AK, AK | United States | 1,748 | 0.07 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 10, 07:25 | ||
| Midway Islands, HI | US Territories | 2,593 | 0.26 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Sitka, AK, AK | United States | 2,772 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Mutsuogawara | Japan | 3,321 | 0.06 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Hachinohe | Japan | 3,338 | 0.08 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Miyako | Japan | 3,364 | 0.07 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Ofunato | Japan | 3,423 | 0.07 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Ayukawa | Japan | 3,489 | 0.12 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Wc68 Bpr, off Oregon Coast, OR | United States | 3,493 | Deep ocean gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 10, 09:03 | |||
| Wc67 Bpr, off Oregon Coast, OR | United States | 3,495 | Deep ocean gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 10, 09:03 | |||
| Wc69 Bpr, off Oregon Coast, OR | United States | 3,496 | Deep ocean gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 10, 09:03 | |||
| Ishinomaki | Japan | 3,497 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Onahama | Japan | 3,626 | 0.09 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Port Allen, Kauai, HI, HI | United States | 3,642 | 0.1 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Nawiliwili, Kauai, HI, HI | United States | 3,646 | 0.17 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 10, 08:28 | ||
| Choshi | Japan | 3,714 | 0.06 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Haleiwa, Oahu, HI, HI | United States | 3,731 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Neah Bay, WA, WA | United States | 3,736 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Waianae, Oahu, HI, HI | United States | 3,742 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Mokuoloe-Coconut Is, Oahu, HI | United States | 3,760 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Honolulu, Oahu, HI, HI | United States | 3,769 | 0.05 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Makapuu Point, Oahu, HI, HI | United States | 3,776 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Port Angeles, WA, WA | United States | 3,826 | 0.04 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Mera | Japan | 3,846 | 0.09 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Toke Point, WA, WA | United States | 3,864 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Kahului, Maui, HI, HI | United States | 3,867 | 0.28 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 10, 08:53 | ||
| Johnston Island, HI | US Territories | 3,930 | 0.02 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Minami-Izu | Japan | 3,932 | 0.06 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Yaizu | Japan | 3,951 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| South Beach, OR, OR | United States | 3,973 | 0.02 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Omaezaki | Japan | 3,978 | 0.08 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Kawaihae, Hawaii, HI, HI | United States | 3,981 | 0.08 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 10, 09:00 | ||
| Yaene, Hachijo Island | Japan | 3,987 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Charleston, OR, OR | United States | 4,036 | 0.03 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Hilo, Hawaii, HI, HI | United States | 4,045 | 0.19 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 10, 09:01 | ||
| Port Orford, OR, OR | United States | 4,052 | 0.06 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Toba | Japan | 4,083 | 0.09 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Crescent City, CA, CA | United States | 4,134 | 0.14 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Owase | Japan | 4,155 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Owase | Japan | 4,155 | 0.08 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Uragami | Japan | 4,215 | 0.11 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Kushimoto | Japan | 4,229 | 0.11 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Chichijima Island | Japan | 4,315 | 0.14 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Arena Cove, CA, CA | United States | 4,350 | 0.06 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Point Reyes, CA, CA | United States | 4,463 | 0.06 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| San Francisco, CA, CA | United States | 4,511 | 0.02 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Monterey, CA, CA | United States | 4,634 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Port San Luis, CA, CA | United States | 4,815 | 0.09 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Kwajalein, Marshall Islands, MH | Marshall Islands | 4,934 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Santa Monica, CA, CA | United States | 5,056 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Pago Pago, American Samoa, AS | US Territories | 7,325 | 0.07 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Port Vila, Efate Island | Vanuatu | 7,800 | 0.06 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 10, 15:06 | ||
| Baltra Island | Ecuador | 9,862 | 0.04 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Talara | Peru | 10,845 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Lobos DE Afuera | Peru | 11,087 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Caldera | Chile | 13,456 | 0.12 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 10, 22:44 | ||
| Valparaiso | Chile | 13,864 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) |
More
Every tsunami in 1996The 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 2263.