426 BC Maliakos Gulf tsunami
Encyclopedia
The 426 BC Malian Gulf tsunami was a tsunami
devastating the coasts of the Malian
and Euboean
Gulfs, Greece
, in the summer of 426 BC. Thucydides
inquired into its causes, and concluded that the tsunami must have been caused by an earthquake
, He was thus the first to describe the cause of tsunamis. His predecessor Herodotus
, in contrast, had earlier attributed the Potidaea tsunami to the divine wrath of Poseidon
.
by forcing the advancing Spartans
to abort their planned invasion of Attica
. Strabo
reported that throughout Greece parts of islands were submerged, rivers permanently displaced and towns devastated. The tsunami itself hit the coast of the Malian Gulf at three different places, reaching towns as far as three quarters of a mile inland. The force of the tsunami was such that at one place a trireme
was lifted out of its dock and thrown over a city wall.
Thucydides gave the following account, noting the characteristic sequence of quake, receding water and huge wave:
He concluded:
While the epicentre of the 426 BC Malian Gulf tsunami quake is yet to be located, evidence points at a crustal movement along one of the faults in the Euboean gulf, rather than submarine landslides.
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
devastating the coasts of the Malian
Malian Gulf
The Malian or Maliac Gulf is a gulf of the Aegean Sea in the region of Phthiotis in eastern Central Greece. The gulf is named after the ancient Malians who lived on its shores....
and Euboean
Gulf of Euboea
The Gulf of Euboea, Euboean Gulf, Euboic Sea or Euboic Gulf is an arm of the Aegean Sea between the island of Euboea and the Greek mainland . Trending diagonally northwest-southeast, the gulf is divided by the narrow Strait of Euripus, at the town of Chalcis...
Gulfs, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, in the summer of 426 BC. Thucydides
Thucydides
Thucydides was a Greek historian and author from Alimos. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 BC...
inquired into its causes, and concluded that the tsunami must have been caused by an earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
, He was thus the first to describe the cause of tsunamis. His predecessor Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
, in contrast, had earlier attributed the Potidaea tsunami to the divine wrath of Poseidon
Poseidon
Poseidon was the god of the sea, and, as "Earth-Shaker," of the earthquakes in Greek mythology. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon...
.
Ancient records
The Malian Gulf tsunami was caused by one of a series of earthquakes in the summer of 426 BC which affected the course of the Peloponnesian WarPeloponnesian War
The Peloponnesian War, 431 to 404 BC, was an ancient Greek war fought by Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. Historians have traditionally divided the war into three phases...
by forcing the advancing Spartans
History of Sparta
The History of Sparta describes the destiny of the ancient Dorian Greek state known as Sparta from its beginning in the legendary period to its forced incorporation into the Achaean League under the late Roman Republic, its conquerors, in 146 BCE, a period of roughly 1000 years...
to abort their planned invasion of Attica
Attica
Attica is a historical region of Greece, containing Athens, the current capital of Greece. The historical region is centered on the Attic peninsula, which projects into the Aegean Sea...
. Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
reported that throughout Greece parts of islands were submerged, rivers permanently displaced and towns devastated. The tsunami itself hit the coast of the Malian Gulf at three different places, reaching towns as far as three quarters of a mile inland. The force of the tsunami was such that at one place a trireme
Trireme
A trireme was a type of galley, a Hellenistic-era warship that was used by the ancient maritime civilizations of the Mediterranean, especially the Phoenicians, ancient Greeks and Romans.The trireme derives its name from its three rows of oars on each side, manned with one man per oar...
was lifted out of its dock and thrown over a city wall.
Thucydides gave the following account, noting the characteristic sequence of quake, receding water and huge wave:
About the same time that these earthquakes were so common, the sea at Orobiae, in Euboea, retiring from the then line of coast, returned in a huge wave and invaded a great part of the town, and retreated leaving some of it still under water; so that what was once land is now sea; such of the inhabitants perishing as could not run up to the higher ground in time. A similar inundation also occurred at Atalanta, the island off the Opuntian-Locrian coast, carrying away part of the Athenian fort and wrecking one of two ships which were drawn up on the beach. At Peparethus also the sea retreated a little, without however any inundation following; and an earthquake threw down part of the wall, the town hall, and a few other buildings.
He concluded:
The cause, in my opinion, of this phenomenon must be sought in the earthquake. At the point where its shock has been the most violent the sea is driven back, and suddenly recoiling with redoubled force, causes the inundation. Without an earthquake I do not see how such an accident could happen.
While the epicentre of the 426 BC Malian Gulf tsunami quake is yet to be located, evidence points at a crustal movement along one of the faults in the Euboean gulf, rather than submarine landslides.
Further reading
- I. Papaioannou, G.A. Papadopoulos, S. Pavlides: "The Earthquake of 426BC in N. Evoikos Gulf Revisited: Amalgamation of two Different Strong Earthquake Events?", Proceedings of the 10th International Congress, Thessaloniki (April 2004), Bulletin of the Geological Society of Greece, Vol. 36 (2004), pp. 1477–1481
See also
- Historic tsunami
- 365 Crete earthquake365 Crete earthquakeThe AD 365 Crete earthquake was an undersea earthquake that occurred at about sunrise on 21 July 365 in the Eastern Mediterranean, with an assumed epicentre near Crete. Geologists today estimate the quake to have been 8 on the Richter Scale or higher, causing widespread destruction in central and...