On December 20, 1946 CE, a tsunami struck the southern coast of Honshu, Japan, leaving a significant historical record of seismic activity and coastal impact. According to the NOAA/NCEI Global Historical Tsunami Database, the event was associated with a major earthquake and resulted in widespread loss of life.
Event Chronology and Location
The event occurred on December 20, 1946 CE, at 19 hours, 19 minutes, and 10 seconds UTC. The geographic coordinates for the event are recorded at latitude 33.123 and longitude 135.905 along the southern coast of Honshu (location identifier: HONSHU: S COAST). The NOAA historical database assigns this entry a validity rating of 4.
Earthquake Association and Measurements
The tsunami was earthquake-associated, driven by a seismic event measuring magnitude 8.3. Physical measurements from the event documented a recorded maximum water height of 6.6 meters.
Human Impact
The disaster resulted in 1,362 deaths. The NOAA/NCEI Global Historical Tsunami Database classifies this occurrence as a fatal event with major runup exceeding 5 meters, though it falls short of extreme runups exceeding 20 meters.
Sources and further context
Official datasets support the event-specific facts.