September 17, 1843 Earthquake: Chorio, Chalki (Dodecanese), Greece

AD 1843 Oct 6 Khalki. At 2 h there was another earthquake in Khalki, which caused widespread damage. With the exception of the houses in the marina, which were damaged, all the others in the island were ruined, without casualties since most of them had been evacuated after the first earthquake. In the southern part of the island the shocks triggered rock falls and landslides, which continued for some time, and a village of 500 houses on the foothills of the only mountain in the island (Profitis Elias) was ruined. It is alleged that as a result of the earthquakes gas and flames were seen to be ejected from cracks in the ground. Some writers exaggerate the effects of this long series of shocks in Khalki (Arago 1859, xii. 254; Perrey 1850, 54). Later press reports say that, contrary to previous reports, the earthquakes were not strong (PCH 1259, no. 156), and that damage to Khalki was not the result of a single earthquake but the cumulative effect from the large number of shocks which, nevertheless, was serious enough that 'some outstanding taxation was waived' by the Turkish admnstration (BBA IMV 1169; PCH 1259, 11.5; PJC 1843, 1021). There was no loss of ships, as implied by a modern writer who mistranslates Perrey's 'des batiments y ont ete renverses' as 'ships turned upside down' and assigns to the earthquake a magnitude of 6.4. The shock caused panic in Cos (Istankoy) and some alarm in Rhodes, and it was felt onboard a ship 35 miles east of Candia, but not in Izmir. Many strong aftershocks occurred until the end of November ( on 10, 16 and 18 October and 21 November), almost completely demolishing all the houses and obliging the inhabitants of Khalki to evacuate the island and move to Rhodes, Incirli (Nisiros) and Kesriye(?). (ref #9116)

1843 Oct 18. 36.3 N 27.7 E, M=6.4, Dodecanese (IX, Chalke). On 1 October in Chalke (small island near Rhodos) a strong earthquake occurred in the morning. During the same day, at noon and in the afternoon, other weaker shocks occurred. On 6 of October a strong shock occurred in Cos. On 16 and 17 of October some shocks occurred in Rhodos. On 18 of October a new shock occurred with a direction from north to south and lasted 30 sec. This was more violent in the island of Chalke. Ships were overturned and a mountain collapsed. The shocks continued for 2 or 3 days. In Chalke, 600 inhabitants were lost (Perrey, 1848). In an English war ship, as it sailed from Smyme to Malta and when it was 35 miles east of Heraklio, two shocks were almost simultaneously felt and were accompanied by a strong noise as if something was rolling from W to E under the ship (Cayeux, 1904). (ref #4408).

1843 Oct 18. magnitude 6.5, 6000 dead. (ref #9275) [Note: 6,000 figure likely a typographical error as reference #10418 states 600]

Ref #14251:

in the Anonymous (1843) article, and in the Ross (1845) book are consistent in that (1) they refer to damage at Chorio, and (2) none of them report human victims at all or tsunami waves that may have been caused by the earthquakes.

[Perrey, 1848] stated that the island Cherlis (?) lost 600 inhabitants […] if Perrey (1848) had in mind the island of Chalke, then his information turns out to be false since there is not even one single original source referring to fatalities caused by the Chalke earthquakes.

No fatalities and no tsunamis were caused during the entire sequence, as unreliably reported by secondary information sources

By all indications, the mainshock that occurred at Chalke Island on 17 September 1843 […] followed by aftershocks lasting at least until the first days of October 1843.

If the death toll of 600 reported by Perrey (1848) and subsequent authors was real, then the fatality rate would be as high as ∼40% […]and this would be unusual enough that it would not escape the attention of Anonymous (1843) and Ross (1845).