List of tsunamis

Tsunamis are huge waves that happen when underwater earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or landslides move a lot of water very quickly. They can cause a lot of damage and are most common in the Pacific Ocean because of the many earthquake zones there. But tsunamis can happen anywhere there is big water, even in lakes far from the sea.

A tsunami hitting a coastline

Very small tsunamis happen often, but we usually can't see or feel them without special tools. One of the oldest known tsunamis happened around 1600 BC after the eruption of a volcano called Thira, which may have also hurt ancient towns. The oldest written record of a tsunami is from 479 BC, when a big wave destroyed a Persian army near a town in Greece called Potidaea.

A long time ago, in 426 BC, a Greek writer named Thucydides tried to figure out why tsunamis happen. He thought they were caused by earthquakes under the ocean, and he couldn't think of any other reason.

Prehistoric

Tsunamis have happened since very old times, even before people kept good records. These big waves are usually caused by movements deep under the ocean, like when the Earth shakes or volcanoes erupt.

Year	Location	Main Article	Primary Cause	Description
≈3,260 Ma	South Africa	S2 impact	Impact event	An astronomical object between 37 and 58 kilometres (23 and 36 mi) wide traveling at 20 kilometres per second (12 mi/s) struck the Earth east of what is now Johannesburg, South Africa, near South Africa's border with Eswatini, in what was then an Archean ocean that covered most of the planet, creating a crater about 500 kilometres (300 mi) wide. The impact generated a megatsunami that probably extended to a depth of thousands of metres beneath the surface of the ocean and rose to the height of a skyscraper when it reached shorelines.
≈66 Ma	Yucatán Peninsula	Chicxulub event	Impact event	An asteroid 10 kilometres (6 mi) in diameter struck the Earth, generating a megatsunami with an initial wave height of 1,500 metres (5,000 ft) which struck coastlines in the Gulf of Mexico with waves 100 metres (330 ft) tall and reached heights of up to 14 metres (46 ft) in the North Atlantic and South Pacific. The impact also triggered giant landslides and slumps which produced additional megatsunamis of various sizes in the region, and seismic waves from it caused seiches of 10 to 100 metres (33 to 330 ft) in height in an inland sea at Tanis, 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) away.
≈5.33 Ma	Algeciras, Spain	Zanclean Flood	Reservoir-induced seismicity	At the end of or shortly after the Zanclean Flood, which rapidly filled the Mediterranean Basin with water from the Atlantic Ocean, a megatsunami with a height of nearly 100 metres (330 ft) struck the coast of Spain near what is now Algeciras.
≈1.4 Ma	Molokai, Hawaii	East Molokai Volcano	Landslide	One-third of the East Molokai volcano collapsed into the Pacific Ocean, generating a tsunami with an estimated local height of 600 metres (2,000 ft). The wave traveled as far as California and Mexico.
≈220,000–170,000 BC	Tenerife, Canary Islands	Mount Teide	Eruption and landslide	A destructive series of eruptions caused a large collapse of part of the northern flank of the island and the central pre-Teide volcanic structure (known as the Cañadas edifice), causing a megatsunami in two phases, leaving deposits 132 metres (433 ft) high on the north-west of the island.
≈103,000 BC	Hawaii		Submarine landslide	A tsunami at least 400 metres (1,300 ft) in height deposited marine sediments at a modern-day elevation of 326 metres (1,070 ft) – 375 to 425 metres (1,230 to 1,394 ft) above sea level at the time the wave struck – on Lanai. The tsunami also deposited such sediments at an elevation of 60 to 80 metres (200 to 260 ft) on Oahu, Molokai, Maui, and the island of Hawaii.
≈71,000 BC	Cape Verde Islands		Landslide	The eastern flank of the island of Fogo collapsed into the sea, generating a megatsunami. The wave struck Santiago, 55 kilometres (34 mi; 30 nmi) away, where it was at least 170 metres (560 ft) tall and a had a run-up height of 270 metres (890 ft). The wave deposited giant boulders on Santiago at elevations of up to 220 metres (720 ft) and as far as 650 metres (2,100 ft) inland.
≈7,910–7,290 BC	Dor, Israel		Unknown	A megatsunami had a run-up of at least 16 metres (52 ft) and traveled between 1.5 and 3.5 km (0.9 and 2.2 mi) inland from the ancient Eastern Mediterranean coast.
≈7000–6000 BC	Lisbon, Portugal		Unknown	A series of giant rocks and cobblestones have been found 14 metres (46 ft) above mean sea level near Guincho Beach.
≈6370 BC	Eastern Mediterranean		Unknown	A 25-cubic-kilometre (6 cu mi) landslide on the eastern slope of Mount Etna in Sicily reached the Mediterranean Sea and triggered a megatsunami in the Eastern Mediterranean with an initial wave height of 40 metres (130 ft) along the eastern coast of Sicily, where it felled millions of trees. Models indicate it had heights of 30 metres (100 ft) near Syracuse, Sicily; 15 to 34 metres (49 to 110 ft) along the southern coast of Italy; 20 metres (70 ft) along the southeastern coast of Sicily; 15 metres (50 ft) at the northeastern tip of Sicily; 18 metres (59 ft) at Malta; 12 metres (39 ft) on the western coast of Greece; 6 metres (20 ft) in southern Greece; 5 to 10 metres (16 to 33 ft) along the coast of Libya; 1 metre (3 ft) on the south coast of Crete; 0.5 metres (2 ft) at Cyprus; and 2.5 metres (8 ft) at the Neolithic village of Atlit Yam off the coast of Israel, prompting the village's permanent abandonment.
≈6225–6170 BC	Norwegian Sea	Storegga Slide	Landslide	The Storegga Slides, 100 kilometres (60 mi) northwest of the coast of Møre in the Norwegian Sea, triggered a large tsunami in the North Atlantic Ocean. The collapse involved around 290 kilometres (180 mi) of coastal shelf, and a total volume of 3,500 km³ (840 cu mi) of debris. Based on carbon dating of plant material in the sediment deposited by the tsunami, the latest incident occurred around 6225–6170 BC. In Scotland, traces of the tsunami have been found in sediments from Montrose Basin, the Firth of Forth, up to 80 kilometres (50 mi) inland and 4 metres (13 ft) above current normal tide levels.
≈5650 BC	Alluttoq Island, Greenland		Landslide	A large landslide into Sullorsuaq Strait (known in Danish as Vaigat Strait) generated a megatsunami which had a run-up height of 41 to 66 metres (130 to 220 ft).
≈5350 BC	Alluttoq Island, Greenland		Landslide	A large landslide into Sullorsuaq Strait (known in Danish as Vaigat Strait) generated a megatsunami which had a run-up height of 45 to 70 metres (148 to 230 ft).
5,500 BP	Northern Isles, Scotland	Garth tsunami	Unknown	The tsunami may have been responsible for contemporary mass burials.
≈1800 BC	Chile		Earthquake	A magnitude 9.5 earthquake generated tsunamis 15 to 20 metres (50 to 70 ft) in height that struck 1,000 kilometres (621 mi) of the coastline of the Atacama Desert. People fled the area and did not begin to return until around 800 BC; some pre-tsunami settlements were not reoccupied until between 1000 and 1500 AD.
≈1600 BC	Santorini, Greece	Minoan eruption	Volcanic eruption	The volcanic eruption in Santorini, Greece triggered tsunamis which caused damage to some Minoan sites in eastern Crete.
1171 BC	Baltic Sea		Unknown	A tsunami with wave heights of at least 10 metres (30 ft) had run-up heights in Sweden of up to 14.5 to 16.5 metres (48 to 54 ft).
≈1100 BC	Lake Crescent, Washington, United States		Landslide	An earthquake generated the 7,200,000-cubic-metre (9,400,000 cu yd) Sledgehammer Point Rockslide, which fell from Mount Storm King and entered waters at least 140 metres (460 ft) deep, generating a megatsunami with an estimated maximum run-up height of 82 to 104 metres (270 to 340 ft).

Before 1000 AD

Tsunamis are big waves caused by underwater earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. They happen most often in the Pacific Ocean because of the many tectonic plates there, but they can occur anywhere there is large water, like lakes. These events have happened for thousands of years, even before the year 1000 AD.

1000–1700 AD

Tsunamis are large waves caused by movements under the ocean, like earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. They happen most often in the Pacific Ocean because of the many tectonic plates there, but they can occur in any large body of water, including lakes, when landslides or breaking ice cause them.

1700s

1800s

1900–1950

1950–2000

Tsunamis are large waves caused by underwater earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. They happen most often in the Pacific Ocean because of the many tectonic plates moving there, but they can occur in any large body of water, including lakes. These powerful waves can affect coastlines far from where the event happened.

2000–2010

Year	Location	Main Article	Primary Cause	Description
2000	Paatuut, Greenland		Landslide	On 21 November 2000, a 90,000,000-cubic-metre (120,000,000 cu yd) landslide with a mass of 260,000,000 tons fell from an elevation of 1,000 to 1,400 metres (3,300 to 4,600 ft) at Paatuut on the Nuussuaq Peninsula on the west coast of Greenland, reaching a speed of 140 kilometres per hour (87 mph). About 30,000,000 cubic metres (39,000,000 cu yd) of material with a mass of 87,000,000 tons entered Sullorsuaq Strait (known in Danish as Vaigat Strait), generating a megatsunami. The wave had a run-up height of 50 metres (160 ft) near the landslide and 28 metres (92 ft) at Qullissat, the site of an abandoned settlement across the strait on Disko Island, 20 kilometres (11 nmi; 12 mi) away, where it inundated the coast as far as 100 metres (330 ft) inland. Refracted energy from the tsunami created a wave with a run-up height of 3 metres (10 ft) that destroyed boats at the closest populated village, Saqqaq, on the southwestern coast of the Nuussuaq Peninsula 40 kilometres (25 mi) from the landslide.
2002	Tyrrhenian Sea	2002 Stromboli tsunami	Landslide	In May 2002, the volcanic island of Stromboli entered a new phase of explosive activity that was initially characterized by gas and ash emission from the summit craters. On 30 December 2002, a seismic network recorded two large collapses of a huge portion of the Sciara del Fuoco, which resulted in tsunamis.
2002	Bird's Head Peninsula, Indonesia	2002 West Papua earthquake	Earthquake	A magnitude 7.6 earthquake off the eastern coast of West Papua triggered a tsunami which struck the towns of Ransiki and Oranbaru at a height of 3–5 m (10–16 ft), with a 1 m (3 ft) surge damaging dozens of homes in Manokwari and other areas surrounding the Doreri Bay.
2003	Hokkaido, Japan	2003 Tokachi earthquake	Earthquake	A magnitude 8.3 earthquake in the Pacific Ocean off the southeastern coast of Hokkaido on 26 September 2003 created a tsunami that struck Hokkaido with a height of up to 4 metres (13 ft).
2004	Indian Ocean	2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami	Earthquake	The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake (moment magnitude 9.1–9.3) triggered a series of tsunamis on 26 December 2004 that devastated coastlines surrounding the Indian Ocean, killing an estimated 227,898 people (167,540 in Indonesia alone), making it the deadliest tsunami and one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. The earthquake was the second largest earthquake in recorded history. The initial surge was measured at a height of approximately 33 meters (108 ft), making it one of the largest earthquake-generated tsunamis in recorded history. The tsunami killed people from the immediate vicinity of the earthquake in Indonesia, Thailand, and the northwest coast of Malaysia, to thousands of miles away in Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and as far afield as Somalia, Kenya, and Tanzania. This tsunami that crossed the Indian Ocean is an example of a teletsunami, which travels great distances across the open ocean, and an ocean-wide tsunami. It became known as the "Boxing Day Tsunami" because it hit on Boxing Day (26 December). Unlike the Pacific Ocean, there was no organized warning service covering the Indian Ocean. This was due in part to the absence of major tsunamis since August 1883 (the Krakatoa eruption, see above). In light of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, UNESCO and other world bodies called for an international tsunami monitoring system.
2006	South of Java Island	2006 Pangandaran earthquake and tsunami	Earthquake	A magnitude 7.7 earthquake shook the seabed of the Indian Ocean on 17 July 2006, 200 km (120 mi) south of Pangandaran, a beach famous among surfers for its perfect waves. This earthquake triggered tsunamis with heights ranging from 2 metres (7 ft) at Cilacap to 6 metres (20 ft) at Cimerak beach, where it flattened and leveled buildings up to 400 metres (1,300 ft) from the coastline. More than 800 people were reported missing or dead.
2006	Kuril Islands	2006 Kuril Islands earthquake	Earthquake	On 15 November 2006, a magnitude 8.3 earthquake occurred off the coast near the Kuril Islands. A relatively large tsunami was generated, with waves reaching 21.9 m (72 ft). This tsunami was also observed in Japan and at distant locations throughout the Pacific. In Crescent City, California, a 1.76 m (5.8 ft) high tsunami caused an estimated $10 million USD in damages.
2007	Solomon Islands	2007 Solomon Islands earthquake	Earthquake	On 2 April 2007, a magnitude 8.1 earthquake struck about 40 km (25 mi) south of Ghizo Island in the western Solomon Islands at 07:39, triggering a tsunami of up to 12 metres (39 ft) tall. The wave, which hit the coast of the Solomon Islands (mainly Choiseul, Ghizo Island, Ranongga, and Simbo), triggered tsunami watches and warnings that spread from Japan to New Zealand, Hawaii and eastern Australia. The tsunami killed 52 people and dozens were injured as the waves inundated cities. A state of national emergency was declared for the Solomon Islands. On Choiseul Island, a 9.1-metre (30 ft) high wall of water was reported to have swept nearly 400 metres (1,300 ft) inland. The largest waves hit the northern tip of Simbo Island, where two villages, Tapurai and Riquru, were completely destroyed by a 12-metre (39 ft) wave, killing 10 people. Authorities estimated that the tsunami displaced more than 5,000 residents throughout the archipelago.
2007	Chile	2007 Aysén Fjord earthquake	Earthquake and landslide	On 21 April 2007, an earthquake of magnitude 6.2 occurred in the Aysén Fjord. In the mountains around the fjord, the earthquake triggered landslides that in turn created waves up to 50 m (160 ft) high, severely damaging some salmon aquaculture facilities. The drinking water systems of the cities of Puerto Chacabuco and Puerto Aisén were broken, forcing firefighters and the army to supply water. The electricity network of Puerto Chacabuco was also cut. Ten people were reported dead or missing.
2007	British Columbia		Landslide	On 4 December 2007, a landslide entered Chehalis Lake in British Columbia, generating a large tsunami in the lake that destroyed camps and vegetation many metres above the shoreline. The wave had a run-up height of 37.8 m (124 ft) on the lake's opposite shore, 0.8 km (0.5 mi) away from the slide, and was 6.3 m (21 ft) tall at the lake's exit point, 7.5 km (4.7 mi) away to the south.The wave then continued down the Chehalis River for about 15 km (9.3 mi).
2009	Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake, Washington, United States		Landslide	A section of the shoreline about 7 hectares (17 acres) in area adjacent to the mouth of the Spokane River collapsed into the lake on January 16, 2009, generating a tsunami which reached a maximum height of 9.1 metres (30 ft) along the opposite shore 900 metres (3,000 ft) away.
2009	Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake, Washington, United States		Landslide	A section of a hillside collapsed into the lake on August 25, 2009, generating a tsunami with an initial wave height of 6.1 metres (20 ft) which reached the opposite shore less than 900 metres (3,000 ft) away with a height of 3.7 metres (12 ft). It struck a campground there and washed a number of people into the lake, but all survived.
2009	Samoa	2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami	Earthquake	An undersea earthquake occurred in the Samoan Islands region at 06:48 local time on 29 September 2009. This magnitude 8.1 earthquake in the outer elevation of the Kermadec-Tonga subduction zone was the largest earthquake of 2009. The subsequent tsunami caused substantial damage and loss of life in Samoa, American Samoa, and Tonga. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center recorded a 76 mm (3.0 in) rise in sea level near the epicenter, and New Zealand scientists noted waves up to 14 m (46 ft) off the coast of Samoa. More than 189 people, especially children, were killed, most of them in Samoa. Large waves without major damage were reported in Fiji, the north coast of New Zealand and Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. People from the low-lying atolls of Tokelau moved to higher ground as a precautionary measure.
2010	Chile	2010 Chile earthquake	Earthquake	On 27 February 2010, an 8.8 earthquake off the coast of Chile triggered a tsunami that caused severe damage and loss of life, also causing minor effects in other Pacific nations.
2010	Sumatra	2010 Mentawai earthquake and tsunami	Earthquake	On 25 October 2010, a 7.7 earthquake struck near the island of South Pagai in Indonesia, triggering a localized tsunami that killed at least 408 people.

2011–2020

2021–present

Highest or tallest

Main article: Megatsunami

The tallest tsunami on record happened in 1958 in Lituya Bay. It reached an amazing height of 524 meters, or about 1,719 feet! Other big tsunamis include one in 1963 caused by a dam failure, another in 1980 near Spirit Lake, and more recent ones in Alaska in 2015 and 2025. These events show just how powerful nature can be.

Deadliest

The deadliest tsunami ever recorded happened in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. It caused many deaths across fourteen countries, including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Somalia, Myanmar, Maldives, Malaysia, Tanzania, Seychelles, Bangladesh, South Africa, Yemen, and Kenya. There were also many injuries and damage to buildings and homes.