October 12, 1856 Earthquake: Crete, Egypt, Greece

October 12, 1856, 00:45 UTC, 35.5 N, 26 E, intensity XI, magnitude 8.3. Hellenic Arc, Island of Crete, the northern shore [?]. The earthquake took place in Heracleon. (ref #2130)

October 12, 1856, 00:45, 35.5 N, 26 E, intensity XI, Heraklion (ref #1198)

October 12, 1856, 00h45m [local time], 35.5N, 26E, intensity = X-XI. An earthquake catastrophe in Kriti (Crete), at Iraklion (Heraklion), only 18 houses from the total of 3620 houses remained inhabitable, 538 victims, Sitia almost completely destroyed, heavy damage at Ierapetra (Hierapetra) and Gulf of Merabellou (Mirabello), at Khania all houses injured but only some of them collapsed, disaster in the island of Kasos, in Karpathos all houses damaged, in Rhodos 8 villages heavily injured, elevation of the coast, casualties, tsunami, slight damage observed in Thira (Santorin), Malta, Gozo, Karien, Cyprus, S. Syria, N. Palestina, delta of the Nile, very large shaken area extending up to Palermo, Napoli, Ancona, Zara, Athhai, Bursa? (SAM, PAT, BI), disaster at Iohnnina (Jannina) (a relais shock?), between Pentalidion and Kyparissia VI-VII, strongly felt in Cyprus. (ref #1099)

October 12, 1856, Widespread damage in northern Egypt from offshore large magnitude earthquake; sea-wave, 10 deaths. (ref #1180)

Seismic catastrophe in Crete, the city of Crystallized (Megalokastron) was entirely destroyed, except 40 houses. In the islands of Karpathos and Thassos 8,000 houses destroyed, 20 deaths. The devastations extended to the island of Rhodos. The shock was also felt in Syria, Palestine, Egypt, in Sicily, and Malta (several dwellings were destroyed). Probable epicentre: in the Mediterranean. Underwater intensity: probably XII; in Crete: XI. (ref #1093)

More than 600 people were killed, about 538 only in Crete […] the earthquake caused extensive damage in Rhodes where about 60 people killed. (ref #13796)

October 12, 1856. Hellenic Arc. A major earthquake in the Hellenic Are was felt in the Nile Delta. The earthquake occurred before dawn and lasted over 2 minutes. In Alexandria, a few old walls tumbled down; no substantial damage was done, but the people were thrown into a panic. Some old houses were damaged but only 2 lives were lost, from injuries. ...in other provincial towns of the Delta, such as Tanta and Damanhur, several minarets fell, killing some people. At Suez the shock was felt.

In Cairo the effects of the earthquake were more serious. Three successive shocks were felt, of 1, 1.5 and 2 minutes duration. The railway dock and all hotel clocks stopped and water in canals ran up the embankments; water from the Khalij canal was thrown over its sides and well-water rose to the surface. About 20 houses collapsed completely and about 200 were ruined, killing 4 people, but many houses of local construction were damaged. In the district of Bulaq, there was more debris than in Cairo. Here about 20 mosques were damaged, almost all through the collapse of their minarets, among them the mosque of Abu 'l-A'la which lost its top, with the loss of 4 lives. Panic was great throughout Cairo and a large proportion of the populace camped in open spaces for a day or two.

The earthquake had no effect on major engineering works and it was hardly felt south of Helwan. It was strongly felt by boats sailing off Egypt and as far as Central Italy. Almost the whole of the Adriatic Sea, Malta, Greece, western Anatolia, Cyprus and Palestine experienced the shock. Maximum damage was inflicted on Rhodes and Crete and neighbouring islands of Karpathos (Scarpantos) and Casos.

(above ref #3845)

large, most probably subcrustal, earthquake, with an epicentral region offshore from Crete. It occurred at 2h 33m and lasted for over 2 minutes […] The effects of the earthquake were reported widely by the press, but not always soberly and with a considerable degree of exaggeration. (ref #9116)