January 31, 1873 Earthquake: Vathy-Chora (Samos), Greece

Date

January 31, 1873

Time

23:15:00 UTC

Place

Vathy-Chora (Samos), Greece

Intensity

9 on the Modified Mercalli scale

Tsunami

None recorded

Epicenter

37.800° N, 27.000° E

Country

Greece

Deaths

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.

• July 10, 1668, TurkeyM6.6 · 17,500 deaths · 67 km
• July 10, 1688, Izmir, TurkeyM7 · 16,000 deaths · 67 km
• October 15, 1883, Ayvalik, Izmir, Cesme, TurkeyM7.3 · 15,000 deaths · 3,600 houses destroyed · 89 km
• April 3, 1881, Cesme, Khios, Turkey, GreeceM7.3 · 7,866 deaths · 83 km
• October 1491, Kos, Greece5,000 deaths · 100 km
• February 23, 1653, Izmir,alasehir,denizli,aydin, TurkeyM7.5 · 2,500 deaths · 114 km
• 688, Izmir, Turkey2,000 deaths · 69 km
• September 20, 1899, Sultanhisar,atca,nazilli,kuyucak,denizli, TurkeyM6.7 · 1,117 deaths · 7,126 houses destroyed · 162 km
• March 7, 1867, Izmir, Mitilini, Turkey, GreeceM7 · 563 deaths · 5,915 houses destroyed · 164 km
• August 6, 1384, Lesbos, Greece500 deaths · 178 km
• April 22, 1863, Rhodes, Kos, GreeceM7.8 · 300 deaths · 2,050 houses destroyed · 170 km
• April 23, 1933, Dodecanese Islands, GreeceM6.4 · 181 deaths · 119 km
• March 31, 1928, Tepekoy, Torbali, TurkeyM6.5 · 170 deaths · 2,600 houses destroyed · 48 km
• October 30, 2020, Izmir, Samos, Turkey, GreeceM7 · 118 deaths · $400 million · 22 km
• July 9, 1956, Dodecanese, GreeceM7.7 · 56 deaths · 529 houses destroyed · 156 km

Significant earthquakes of 1873The 1800sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history

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 2205.