List of tsunamis in Europe
The following is a list of notable tsunamis in Europe .
The aftermath of the Messina earthquake and tsunami on December 28, 1908
Causes
Most of the tsunamis that have occurred within Europe have happened in the Mediterranean Sea because in the Mediterranean Sea there are earthquakes, submarine landslide and volcanoes. Most of the earthquakes occur on the Eurasian plate but earthquakes and submarine landslide also occur in western Europe like France , Norway and the United Kingdom which have been struck by tsunamis.
Tsunamis
Date
Country
Dead
Cause
Notes
~6225-6170 BC
Scotland , United Kingdom
Unknown
Underwater landslide
Storegga Slide , Norway[ 1]
6000 BC
Sicily , Italy
Unknown
Volcanic eruption
3500 BC
Northern Isles
Many
Tsunami
Unclear[ 1]
1410 BC
Santorini , Greece
Unknown
Volcanic eruption
[ 2]
426 BC
Gulf of Euboea , Greece
Unknown
Earthquake
426 BC Malian Gulf tsunami [ 2]
373 BC
Helike , Greece
Unknown
Earthquake
An earthquake and a tsunami destroyed the prosperous Greek city Helike , lying 2 km away from the sea. The fate of the city, which remained permanently submerged, was often commented upon by ancient writers and may have inspired Plato when writing his story of Atlantis in Timaeus and Critias .[ 2]
227 BC
Dodecanese , Greece
Unknown
Earthquake
226 BC Rhodes earthquake [ 2]
210 BC
Gulf of Cádiz , Portugal
Unknown
Earthquake
[ 3]
79 AD
Gulf of Naples , Italy
Unknown
Volcanic eruption
A smaller tsunami was witnessed in the Bay of Naples by Pliny the Younger during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius .[ 4]
21 July 365
Crete , Greece
Thousands
8.0 earthquake
365 Crete earthquake [ 2]
7 July 551
Menidi, Aetolia-Acarnania , Greece
Unknown
Earthquake
[ 2]
15 August 554
Kos , Greece
Unknown
Earthquake
[ 2]
24 October 842
Channel Islands United Kingdom
Unknown
Earthquake
[ 5]
1050
Santorini , Greece
Unknown
Volcanic eruption
[ 2]
11 November 1099
Cornwall , United Kingdom ,
Unknown
Unknown
[ 5]
1 October 1134
North Sea , United Kingdom , Netherlands
Unknown
Unknown
[ 6]
4 February 1169
Strait of Messina , Italy ,
Unknown
Earthquake
[ 4]
11 May 1222
Cyprus
Unknown
Earthquake
[ 2]
8 August 1303
Crete , Greece
Thousands
8.0 earthquake
1303 Crete earthquake[ 2]
25 November 1343
Tyrrhenian Sea , Italy
Loss of lives recorded unknown number.
Earthquake
[ 4]
5 December 1456
Province of Benevento , Italy
30,000–70,000
Earthquake
[ 4] Largest earthquake to strike Italy.
3 May 1481
Rhodes , Greece
Unknown
Earthquake
[ 2]
6 April 1580
Strait of Dover , United Kingdom
120
Earthquake/Underwater landslide
The 5.9 earthquake caused freak waves in the Strait of Dover which were observed in England and France.[ 5]
30 January 1607
Bristol Channel , United Kingdom
2,000
disputed tsunami caused by earthquake off Ireland
27 March 1638
Sicily , Italy
9,581–30,000
Earthquake
[ 4]
6 April 1667
Adriatic Sea , Croatia
Unknown
Earthquake
The tsunami struck the city of Dubrovnik .[ 7]
9 October 1680
Alboran Sea , Spain
Unknown
Unknown
[ 8]
11 January 1693
Italy
1000
Earthquake
[ 4]
1693
Iceland
Unknown
Volcanic earthquake
[ 9]
21 February 1723
Lefkada , Greece
Unknown
Earthquake
[ 2]
20 February 1743
Apulia , Italy
180–300
Earthquake
[ 4]
14 May 1748
Gulf of Patras , Greece
Unknown
Earthquake
[ 2]
7 July 1757
Isles of Scilly , United Kingdom
Unknown
Earthquake
[ 5]
21 January 1760
Baltic Sea , Denmark , Germany
Unknown
Underwater landslide
[ 10]
5 September 1767
Dublin Republic of Ireland
Unknown
Unknown
[ 11]
February 5, February 6, February 7, March 1, March 28, 1783
Calabria , Italy
50,000
Earthquakes
[ 4]
1 November 1755
Lisbon , Portugal
10,000
Earthquake
[ 3]
31 March 1761
Lisbon, Portugal
Unknown
Earthquake
Moderate tsunami observed in Cornwall and Barbados.
18 September 1763
Weymouth, Dorset , United Kingdom
Unknown
Unknown
[ 5]
2 April 1808
Coast , Italy
Unknown
Earthquake
An earthquake in Italy caused a possible tsunami that was observed in Marseille , France .[ 4] [ 12]
23 August 1817
Gulf of Corinth , Greece
Unknown
Earthquake
[ 2]
29 December 1820
Zakynthos , Greece
Unknown
Earthquake
[ 2]
5 July 1843
Cornwall , United Kingdom
Unknown
Unknown
[ 5]
12 October 1856
Crete , Greece
Unknown
Earthquake
[ 2]
19 September 1867
Ionian Sea Greece
12
Earthquake
[ 2]
3 April 1881
Chios , Greece
7,866
Earthquake
[ 2]
27 August 1886
Ionian Sea , Greece
Unknown
Earthquake
[ 2]
23 February 1887
Ligurian Sea , France
Unknown
Earthquake
[ 4] [ 12]
14 June 1893
Adriatic Sea , Albania
Unknown
7.5 earthquake
[ 13]
31 March 1901
Black Sea , Bulgaria
0
7.2 earthquake
[ 14]
16 January 1905
Loen, Norway
61
Landslide
[ 15]
8 September 1905
Calabria , Italy
557
Earthquake
[ 4]
28 December 1908
Messina , Italy
80,000
7.1 earthquake
[ 4]
11 September 1930
Italy
2
Earthquake
[ 4]
26 September 1932
Ierissos , Greece
491
Earthquake
1932 Ierissos earthquake [ 2]
7 April 1934
Tafjord Norway
40
Landslide
[ 15]
13 September 1936
Loen, Norway
74
Landslide
[ 15]
September 10, 1953
Paphos , Cyprus
40
Earthquake
9 July 1956
Aegean Islands Greece
3
Earthquake
[ 2]
9 July 1956
Dodecanese Greece
56
Earthquake
[ 2]
9 October 1963
Monte Toc , Italy
1,450
Landslide
28 February 1969
Portugal
0
Earthquake
[ 3]
21 June 1978
Vela Luka , Croatia
0
Meteorologic
[ 16]
16 October 1979
Nice , France
8-23
Landslide and underwater landslide
[ 17]
1 January 1980
Azores , Portugal
0
Earthquake
[ 3]
13 December 1990
Italy
6
Earthquake
[ 4]
30 December 2002
Stromboli , Italy
0
Landslide
[ 4]
21 May 2003
Balearic islands , Spain
0
Earthquake
The earthquake was off the coast of Algeria .[ 18] [ 19]
29 June 2011
Cornwall , United Kingdom
0
Underwater landslide
[ 5] [ 20] [ 21] [ 22]
30 October 2020
Aegean Islands , Greece
1
Earthquake
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off the coast of Turkey , producing a 2.2 meter-high tsunami that would later strike the coast of Turkey , and the Aegean Islands , including Ikaria , Kos , Chios , and Samos .[ 23] [ 18]
See also
References