June 15, 2007 Tsunami: Dayantang, Enshi, China
A tsunami caused by a landslide began at Dayantang, Enshi, China on June 15, 2007. The water rose as high as 50 meters. Its effects were recorded at 8 places. It killed 8 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
- June 15, 2007
- Source
- Dayantang, Enshi, China
- Cause
- Landslide
- Maximum water height
- 50 m (164.0 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 8
- Waters
- A lake or river, not the ocean
- How certain
- Probable tsunami
- Source location
- 30.394° N, 110.160° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 8
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 15 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.
On June 15th, 2007, a 3 million cubic meter landslide occurred on the north bank of Qingjiang River, 30 km upstream of the Shuibuya Reservoir Dam. Qingjiang River, originating from Wuling Mountain, is the largest tributary of the Yangtze River. [...] At about 5 p.m. on June 15th, losing the front support, the entire slope slid into the Shuibuya Reservoir with a volume of 3 million m3. The landslide forcefully struck reservoir water and spawned a giant tsunami that swept the shorelines tens of kilometers up and down stream.
A maximum wave runup height of ~50 m was observed on the bank opposite to the landslide [...] The subsequent waves travelled down the river to the dam, 21 km from the landslide, where a 4-m wave runup height was observed.
It is reported that fifteen houses slipped into the reservoir together with the landslide and 18 people working one km downstream were attacked by the sudden wave. Luckily, ten of them were rescued on the spot whereas the rest of them went missing forever. The destructive waves also damaged a number of farms and infrastructures in towns near the reservoir shore and more than 200 people were endangered.
(all above from reference #12933)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shuibuya Reservoir | China | 0 | 50 | Runup height, post-tsunami survey | |||
| Shuibuya Reservoir | China | 1 | 38 | Runup height, post-tsunami survey | |||
| Shuibuya Reservoir | China | 2 | 23 | Runup height, post-tsunami survey | |||
| Shuibuya Reservoir | China | 3 | 18 | Runup height, post-tsunami survey | |||
| Shuibuya Reservoir | China | 3 | 10.5 | Runup height, post-tsunami survey | |||
| Shuibuya Reservoir | China | 4 | 11 | Runup height, post-tsunami survey | |||
| Shuibuya Reservoir | China | 5 | 10 | Runup height, post-tsunami survey | |||
| Shuibuya Reservoir Dam | China | 17 | 4 | Runup height, post-tsunami survey |
More
Every tsunami in 2007The 2000sTsunamis of ChinaThis 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 5782.