August 14, 1921 Earthquake: Mesewa (Massaua), Ethiopia, Eritrea

August 14, 1921, Ethiopia. An earthquake with an epicenter offshore from Massawa, followed by an aftershock of almost equal magnitude, caused considerable damage to the harbour and to the town, where a small number of people were killed. At Ras Murdur houses became uninhabitable. The shock was strongly felt as far as Asmara and Decamere. A large number of dead fish were found floating between Jizan and al-Hudaida. (reference #3845)

1921. During the whole year of 1921, earth tremors originating in the Massawa Channel jolted the Province of Eritrea. The shocks were particularly severe on 14 August and 21 September when two shocks reached magnitude class "d," that is, between 5.3 and 5.9. Reports of tremors came from all over the province. Massawa was the site that suffered most; it was so badly damaged that all buildings still standing were ordered to be demolished as a security measure. Eritreans remember 1921 in their folklore as Zemene delekeleke, the era of the earthquakes. Gutenberg and Richter (1954) placed the epicentre of the main shock on 14 August U.T. 13:15:28, at N 15.5, E 40.5 in the Red Sea southeast of Dahlak Island. ISS located it on the mainland, at N 15.5, E 39.0, 50 km WSW of Massawa, almost 35 km due south of Asmara, near Decamere. (reference #1134)