The 479 BC Potidaea tsunami is the oldest record of a paleotsunami in human history.[1] The tsunami is believed to have been triggered by a Ms 7.0 earthquake in the north Aegean Sea. The associated tsunami may have saved the colony of Potidaea from an invasion by Persians from the Achaemenid Empire.
  | |
| Local date | 479 BC |
|---|---|
| Magnitude | 7.0 Ms |
| Epicenter | North Aegean Sea |
| Areas affected | Ancient Greece |
| Max. intensity | MMI IX (Violent) |
| Tsunami | Yes |
| Casualties | Many, possibly at least hundreds of fatalities |
Tectonic setting
editThe Aegean Sea is a seismically active region with complex plate tectonics interaction both within and surrounding the Aegean Sea plate. Seismicity in the Aegean Sea is due to active extension within the lithospheric plate.
The Aegean Sea plate is defined along several major plate boundaries including the North Anatolian Fault which runs through northern Turkey, where the Anatolian sub-plate slides past the Eurasian plate along this right-lateral strike-slip fault. The southern margin is dominated by active convergence of the African plate. It converges north towards the Aegean Sea plate at a rate of 5–10 mm/yr. The subduction rate along the Hellenic subduction zone at 35 mm/yr, however, greatly exceeds the velocity of the African plate. North–south extension within the Aegean Sea plate in the back-arc region compensates the subduction rate. Shallow crustal earthquakes within the Aegean Sea plate is a result of this extension, accommodated by east–west trending normal faults.[2]
Earthquake
editThe Ms 7.0 earthquake had an epicenter somewhere in Macedonia. It was given a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent).[3]
Tsunami
editDuring the Persian siege of the sea town Potidaea, Greece, Herodotus reports how Persian attackers who tried to exploit an unusual retreat of the water were suddenly surprised by "a great flood-tide, higher, as the people of the place say, than any one of the many that had been before". Herodotus attributes the cause of the sudden flood to the wrath of Poseidon.[4] The large tsunami was observed in the Toronean Gulf which devastated Potidaea.[5] The tsunami sank multiple Persian ships attempting to invade the colony, drowning several hundred soldiers.[6][7][8] The source of the tsunami is still controversial with its origins attributed to meteorological effects or a submarine landslide. Historical documents did not mention the occurrence of a storm however.[8]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Smid, T. C. (1970). "'Tsunamis' in Greek Literature". Greece & Rome. 2nd Ser. 17 (1): 100–104 (102f.). doi:10.1017/S0017383500017393. JSTOR 642332. S2CID 163021268.
- ^ Kiratzi, Anastasia A. (2014). "Mechanisms of Earthquakes in Aegean". Encyclopedia of Earthquake Engineering. Department of Geophysics. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. pp. 1–22. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-36197-5_299-1. ISBN 978-3-642-36197-5.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "Significant Earthquake Information". ngdc.noaa.gov. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
- ^ Herodotus: "Herodotus, The Histories, Book 8, chapter 129, section 1". Archived from the original on 8 October 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2022. "The Histories", 8.129
- ^ Aggelos Galanopoulos (1960). "Tsunamis Observed on the Coasts of Greece from Antiquity to Present Time". Annals of Geophysics. 13 (3–4). doi:10.4401/ag-5477.
- ^ Nicholas Ambraseys (2009). Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East: A Multidisciplinary Study of Seismicity up to 1900. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521872928.
- ^ "Persian invaders of Greece 'did perish in tsunami'". BBC. 20 April 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
- ^ a b "Tsunami Event Information". National Geophysical Data Center. Retrieved 21 January 2022.