July 21, 365 Earthquake: Knossos, Crete, Greece

365, July 21. The earthquake was a significant event in the Hellenic Arc, which affected a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region. IT originated from somewhere between Crete and the Peloponnese. It happened in the early morning, and much if not all of the damage it caused was due to the seismic sea wave that played havoc with coastal settlements in Egypt, the Peloponnese and Sicily. (ref #9116)

365, July 21. E. part of the Mediterranean Sea, Hellenic Arc. On July 21, 365 before sunrise a strong earthquake [35 N, 23 E, intensity X] and a catastrophic tsunami occurred with source near Crete. About 5,000 people were killed in Greece due to the tsunami. The earthquake was also felt in northern Italy (in Verona, Bergamo, Mantua, Trevi and other cities). Cities were damaged in Libya. The earthquake caused serious damage in Nicomedia near Constantinople. Epicenters reported range from 35N, 23E, intensity X; 35.3N, 25.7E, intensity XI, magnitude 8; 35.5N, 23E; and 35N, 25E, intensity XI. (re #2130)

46N, 12E, intensity XI. (ref #1075)

It is likely that the 365 earthquake consisted of more than one large earthquake in the eastern Mediterranean region. Indirect evidence, in need of authentification, suggests that the period 350-550 was perhaps one of the most seismically active periods in the region during the last two millennia. (ref #3845)

365 A.D. July 21. Great destructive earthquake, the most frequently mentioned and debated shock of the late antique times, with many descriptions in coeval sources. Epicenter located in the sea near the island of Crete: some suggest a location south of Crete, subsequently criticised by others that strongly support an epicenter in the Aegean Sea, north of the island. Knossos, Gortys and other towns violently affected. Event possibly felt in the whole Mediterranean, namely: Sicily, Greece, Palestine and in the Iberian Peninsula. (ref #4139)

Information below from Ref #1598

According to the historian Amminaus Marcellinus it was a frightful disaster, surpassing anything related either in legend or authentic history. According to calculations based on archaeological evidence and historical data the epicenter of this event may have been in the sea, about 50 km SW from Kourion and west of modern Limassol. Kourion, which was razed by this earthquake may have had a population of about 20,000 before it was heavily damaged by an earlier earthquake in 332 or 324 AD which had leveled the town and the port of Salmai, 110 km NE of Kurion. The Roman Empire was facing considerable difficulties at that time due to attacks by barbarian tribes, the Scots, Francs, Saxons, Picts, and Goths, and by the Persians on its eastern border. The archaeological evidence at Kourion shows that once-proud buildings had been modified to suit a dilapidating society. The population may therefore have been smaller when the cataclysm struck.

Excavations have so far concentrated on a very small part of the town, which may have covered about 10 km2 at its zenith. In the few houses investigated by archaeologists so far numerous skeletons have been found, suggesting that most victims were indoors and probably still asleep when the first devastating shock arrived just after dawn. This means that the total number of people killed by this earthquake must have been high, in particular as other places along the coast must have sustained heavy damage. Moreover, many buildings consisted of rubble masonry, which makes them very vulnerable, and they therefore collapse in great numbers as soon as intensities exceed about MM or MSK VI.

Besides Kurion (Curium) there were other important towns along the S and SW coast of Cyprus, such as Amathus, 22 km to the East, Palaepaphos (Kouklia) and Paphos, 30 km and 47 km to the west. The earthquake was so devastating that Curium was abandoned. It recovered only during the 5th century, but its population even then did not exceed 2,000.