1172 Earthquake: Sicily, Italy
An earthquake struck Sicily, Italy in 1172. It caused a tsunami.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- 1172
- Place
- Sicily, Italy
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 38.000° N, 15.000° E
- Country
- Italy
The toll
- Deaths
- Many (about 101 to 1,000) with its tsunami and other effects
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
1172. Calabrian Arc, Island of Sicily. The sea bed became dry after an earthquake, many lives were lost (reference #2130).
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- December 28, 1908, Messina, Sicily, Calabria, Italy
- January 9, 1693, Sicily, Calabria, Catania, Italy
- January 11, 1693, Sicily, Calabria, Italy
- February 5, 1783, Tyrrhenian Calabria, Italy
- February 4, 1169, Siracusa (Syracuse), Calabria, Sicily, Italy
- 1137, Catania, Sicily, Italy
- August 6, 1757, Siracusa (Syracuse), Italy
- September 16, 1857, Calabria,montemurro, Italy
- March 27, 1638, Cosenza,martirano, Nicastro, Calabria, Italy
- November 5, 1659, Panaija, Soriano, Polia, Italy
- February 6, 1783, Messina Straits, Italy
- 1086, Siracusa (Syracuse), Italy
- January 21, 1065, Catania,messina,milazzo,pale, Sicily, Italy
- September 8, 1905, Monteleone, Tropea, Monte Poro, Italy
- February 12, 1854, Connici,cosenza,pietrafitta,paterno, Italy
More
Significant earthquakes of 1172The 1100sRecent earthquakes near here
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 9807.