November 5, 2017 Tsunami: Quang Nam, Vietnam
A tsunami caused by a landslide began at Quang Nam, Vietnam on November 5, 2017 at 09:00:00 UTC. The water rose as high as 8.5 meters. Its effects were recorded at 1 place. It killed 1 person.
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
- November 5, 2017, 09:00:00 UTC
- Source
- Quang Nam, Vietnam
- Cause
- Landslide
- Maximum water height
- 8.5 m (27.9 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Waters
- A lake or river, not the ocean
- How certain
- Probable tsunami
- Source location
- 15.317° N, 108.249° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 1
- Injuries
- 3
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 3
- Houses damaged
- 3
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.
At about 4 pm, 5 November 2017, a rainfall-induced landslide occurred at the right bank of the Truong River in Tra Giang commune, Bac Tra My District, Quang Nam province, Vietnam. The landslide is located at 15° 19′ 02.8" N 108° 14′ 58.0' E (Fig. 1a), which is about 11 km away from the dam site of the Song Tranh hydropower station. The rapid landslide motion triggered a tsunami-like wave that completely destroyed three houses, partly damaged three other houses, killed one person, and left three injured in the opposite bank. The observed site traces and witness records suggested that maximum wave height was about 8.5 m (Fig. 1b). Such disaster event that has never taken place in the study area attracted much public attention.
The total volume of the landslide was about 31,600 m3 with a maximum depth of approximately 11 m.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tra Giang, Bac Tra My | Vietnam | 0 | 8.5 | Eyewitness observation of water height | 1 |
More
Every tsunami in 2017The 2000sTsunamis of VietnamThis 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 5779.