900 Tsunami: Nagapattinam, India
A tsunami of unknown cause began at Nagapattinam, India in 900. Its effects were recorded at 1 place. It killed 200 people.
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
- 900
- Source
- Nagapattinam, India
- Cause
- Unknown
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Very doubtful tsunami
- Source location
- 10.460° N, 79.530° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 200
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Some (about 51 to 100)
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.
There is mention of tsunami effect in scriptures at Nagapattinam in 900AD that destroyed a Budhist monastery. According to literature available in the library of
Thondaiman kingdom in Puduckottai, Tamilnadu, it was during the reign of Raja Raja Chola that waves had washed away the monastery and several temples and killed hundreds of people. There is evidence of this in Kalaki Krishnamurty's book "Ponniyin Selvan-The Pinacle of Sacrifice". In the chapter "The Sea Rises", the author explains how the sea had risen very high and the black mountain of water moved forward. The sea inundated warehouses and sheds and began to flow into the streets. Ships and boats seemed suspended in mid-air, precariously poised on the water peaks. The book also describes how an elephant was swallowed by the gushing water. (reference #2771)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nagapattinum, Tamil Nadu | India | 47 | Eyewitness observation of water height | 200 |
More
Every tsunami in 900The 900sTsunamis of IndiaAlerts 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 5283.