December 21, 2010 Tsunami: Bonin Islands, Japan
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake began at Bonin Islands, Japan on December 21, 2010 at 17:19:40 UTC. The water rose as high as 0.15 meters. Its effects were recorded at 15 places in at least 4 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
- December 21, 2010, 17:19:40 UTC
- Source
- Bonin Islands, Japan
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7.4, 14 km deep
- Maximum water height
- 0.15 m (0.5 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 15
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 26.901° N, 143.698° E
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.
On December 21, 2010, a large normal-faulting earthquake (Mw 7.4) occurred off the Bonin Islands, generating a tsunami that propagated across the Pacific Ocean and reached Japan. Tsunami signals were recorded using Deep- Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) stations and tide-gauges. Although the tsunami records of the 2010 Bonin earthquake were moderate, regional tide gauges recorded an unexpected phenomenon of locally amplified and dominant long tsunami oscillations (i.e., lasting more than 9 h) in western Japan. (reference #14460)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D21413, SE Tokyo, Japan | Japan | 916 | 0.02 | Deep ocean gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 21, 18:25 | ||
| Uragami | Japan | 1,051 | 0.08 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 21, 19:09 | ||
| Kushimoto | Japan | 1,053 | 0.1 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 21, 19:07 | ||
| Yuki | Japan | 1,063 | 0.08 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 21, 19:07 | ||
| Owase | Japan | 1,073 | 0.11 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 21, 19:16 | ||
| Gobo | Japan | 1,124 | 0.12 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 21, 19:22 | ||
| Murotomisaki | Japan | 1,158 | 0.14 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 21, 19:13 | ||
| Tosa-Shimizu | Japan | 1,224 | 0.15 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 21, 19:26 | ||
| Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, MP | US Territories | 1,310 | 0.05 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 21, 20:01 | ||
| Ofunato | Japan | 1,356 | 0.06 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 21, 19:48 | ||
| Hanasaki | Japan | 1,825 | 0.03 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 21, 20:00 | ||
| D21401 Bpr, 250nm SE of Itirup Is | Russia | 1,921 | 0.01 | Deep ocean gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 21, 19:37 | ||
| D52405 Bpr, Guam, GU | US Territories | 1,953 | 0.01 | Deep ocean gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 21, 20:05 | ||
| D52402 Bpr, 790 NM NW of Kwajalein, MH | Marshall Islands | 1,988 | 0 | Deep ocean gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 21, 19:50 | ||
| D21419 Bpr, 209 NM S of Kuril Is | Russia | 2,226 | 0.01 | Deep ocean gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 21, 20:00 |
More
Every tsunami in 2010The 2000sTsunamis of JapanThe 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 5402.