October 25, 1873 Earthquake: Vasiliki (Leukas), Greece
An earthquake struck Vasiliki (Leukas), Greece on October 25, 1873 at 22:38 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
- October 25, 1873
- Time
- 22:38 UTC
- Place
- Vasiliki (Leukas), Greece
- Intensity
- VIII, severe shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 38.000° N, 23.300° E
- Country
- Greece
- Region
- Southern Europe
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Some (about 51 to 100)
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.
1873, October 25 (26). Ionian Sea, lonian Islands, continental Greece. A strong earthquake took place which caused considerable destruction in Vartholomio. 2 houses collapsed in the village of Chlemoutsi, a quarter of the houses became unfit for living, others cracked. The walls of monks' cells and of the chapel in the cloister of Vlacherna cracked, the bell tower fell down to the ground. All the houses in Kilini were damaged, some of them collapsed and others became unfit for living. The same happened in the villages of Neohori, Kardhiakavti and Kalivya. Serious destruction took place in Vlacherna. The earthquake was felt in Chakida, Corinth, Patras, Pyrgos, on the Island of Zakynthos. Slight damage occurred on the Island of Kerkyra. Aftershocks were also felt in Patras and on the Island of Zakynthos. Sea bottom sank The earthquake damaged the submerged cable between Pyrgos and the Island of Zakynthos. According to Fuchs, "surface seismic waves were observed during the earthquake". No data on tsunami are available.
(reference #2130)
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #2130 Soloviev, Sergey L., Olga N. Solovieva, Chan N. Go, Khen S. Kim, and Nikolay A. Shchetnikov (2000). Tsunamis in the Mediterranean Sea 2000 B.C.-2000 A.D., Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, Volume 13, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Netherlands, 237 p.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- December 856, Korinthos,patrai (Patras), Greece
- July 7, 551, Schisma, Boetia, Greece
- June 426 BC, Euboea, Greece
- December 29, 1820, Zakinthos (Zante), Greece
- August 27, 1886, Triphylie (Peleponese), Philiatra, Greece
- April 20, 1894, Locride, Malesina-Martinon (Lokris), Greece
- September 7, 1999, Athens, Greece
- August 23, 1817, Aeghion, Achaia, Greece
- August 1, 1870, Itea Delphi (Phokis), Greece
- September 30, 1870, Greece
- January 30, 1785, Patrai (Patras), Zakynthos (Zante), Greece
- March 9, 1965, Alonisos, Skopelos, Greece
- April 5, 1965, Southern, Greece
- April 30, 1954, Sophades (Karditsa), Greece
- April 27, 1894, St Konstantinos-Arkitsa (Lokris), Greece
More
Significant earthquakes of 1873The 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 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 7792.