February 28, 1851 Earthquake: Rhodes, Fethiye, Greece, Turkey
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Rhodes, Fethiye, Greece, Turkey on February 28, 1851 at 15:00 UTC. 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
- February 28, 1851
- Time
- 15:00 UTC
- Place
- Rhodes, Fethiye, Greece, Turkey
- Magnitude
- 7.1 (Mw)
- Intensity
- 10 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 36.500° N, 29.000° E
- Country
- Turkey
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
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.
Destructive shock in Rodhos (Rhodos), Mhkri and Kaya (Levisi) in Asia Minor suffered largely, earthslides on Buba-Dag destroyed 14 villages (GG, SAM, LC, SF) [...] According to (LC) destructive aftershocks o March 5 (Makri), April 3 (Makri), April 4 (Rodhos). (reference #1099)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- October 1491, Kos, Greece
- October 3, 1914, Burdur, Kilinc, Keciborlu, Isparta, Turkey
- September 20, 1899, Sultanhisar,atca,nazilli,kuyucak,denizli, Turkey
- April 22, 1863, Rhodes, Kos, Greece
- April 23, 1933, Dodecanese Islands, Greece
- May 12, 1971, Burdur, Turkey
- July 16, 1955, Samos, Soke, Aydin, Greece, Turkey
- April 25, 1957, Fethiye (Lycia, Asia Minor), Turkey
- December 21, 1945, Denizli, Burdur, Turkey
- August 19, 1976, Denizli, Turkey
- December 1, 1869, Gulf of Keramos, Mentese, Turkey
- July 20, 2017, Kos, Bodrum, Datca, Greece, Turkey
- June 2, 2025, Fethiye, Turkey
- June 10, 2012, Rhodes, Fethiye, Greece, Turkey
- April 3, 1851, Levisi, Turkey
More
Significant earthquakes of 1851The 1800sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
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 1912.