26 BC Earthquake: Cyprus
An earthquake struck Cyprus in 26 BC. 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
- 26 BC
- Place
- Cyprus
- Intensity
- 9 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 35.000° N, 33.000° E
- Country
- Cyprus
The toll
The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this earthquake.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
26 B.C. Cyprus. (reference #521)
26 B.C. Cyprus. (reference #1222)
23 +3 B.C. Egyptian coasts between Alexandria and Pelusium. A seismic sea-wave probably connected with the 26 B.C. earthquake in Cyprus. (reference #15)
23 +3 B.C., earthquake 38 1/4 deg N, 22 1/4 deg E, intensity IX. (reference #20)
20 BC Lower Egypt. Strabo says that when he was residing in Alexandria (up to c. 20 BC), 'the sea about Pelusium and Mt. Casius rose and flooded the country and made an island of the mountain, so that the road by Mt. Casius into Phoenice became navigable' (Strabo, i.3.17; xvi.2.26). He does not mention the occurrence of an earthquake and he probably refers to the effects of a sea-wave generated by submarine slumping off the north coast of Egypt, perhaps triggered by an earthquake. Contrary to the assertion of Ben-Menahem, Nur and Vered (1976), no earthquake in that period is mentioned by contemporary historians. Large-scale flooding of the coast is considered by Strabo to be a rare event that has been observed, however, both in c. 20 and 139 BC and in earlier times, on the Egyptian and Syrian coasts. He does not associate these events with earthquakes, as implied by Clédat (1920, p. lIS; 1923, p. 6S). See also, Sieberg (1932b, p. 187) and Ben-Menahem (1979, p. 289). (reference #3845)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- April 10, 1735, Nicosia, Cyprus
- September 10, 1953, Paphos, Cyprus
- January 11, 2022, Damietta, Paphos, Egypt, Cyprus
- February 23, 1995, Paphos, Nicosia, Arodhes, Peristerona, Cyprus
- May 11, 1222, Cyprus
- January 20, 1941, Ammochostos, Cyprus
- 300, Salamis, Cyprus
- 15 BC, Salamis, Cyprus
- 76, Paphos, Salamis, Cyprus
More
Significant earthquakes of 26 BC99 to 1 BCRecent earthquakes near here
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 7796.