Significant earthquakes of 555

August 15, 555 Earthquake: Istanbul (Constantinople), Turkey

August 15, 555

An earthquake struck Istanbul (Constantinople), Turkey on August 15, 555. 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
August 15, 555
Place
Istanbul (Constantinople), Turkey
Intensity
X, extreme shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
Epicenter
41.040° N, 28.980° E
Country
Turkey
Region
Middle East

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.

555, August 15/16. 41.04 N, 28.98 E, intensity X, vicinity of Istanbul. (reference #1071)

553 or 555, August 15. Turkey, Constantinople. Intensity III which corresponds to an earthquake which destroyed towns and devastated districts. (reference #1055)

553 or 555, August 15 at dawn. Constantinople, and many other parts of the world, even extending to part of Egypt. The shocks lasted forty days. The city of Berytus was ruined. (reference #521)

555, July 11 Constantinople. At the same time as a storm, an earthquake was strongly felt in Constantinople, but caused no damage. Theophanes gives the date of this earthquake as a.M. 6047, indiction 3, 11 July (AD 555). He adds that it took place during the Liturgy of St Euphemia of the Mountain. He does not give a location for this earthquake, but in the next sentence refers to a storm at the same time, which blew off the cross fixed to the Gate of Rhegium. Since this gate is in Constantinople, it may safely be concluded that the earthquake must also have occurred in there. Cedrenus has a storm that blew down the cross over the Gate of Rhegium during the 28th year of Justinian (1 August 554 to 30 July 555), but he does not mention an earthquake. Note: this reference [#9116] and reference #4408 lists a destructive earthquake in the eastern part of the Sea of Marmara on 554 Aug 15/16.(reference #9116)

Sources NCEI cites

The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.

  1. #1055 Milne, John (1911). Catalogue of Destructive Earthquakes [7 to 1899 A.D.], Report of the 81st Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Portsmouth, London, United Kingdom, p. 649-740.
  2. #521 Mallet, Robert (1853). Catalogue of Recorded Earthquakes from 1606 B.C. to A.D. 1850, Part I, 1606 B.C. to 1755 A.D. Report of the 22nd Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science held at Hull, Sept., 1853, John Murray, London, p. 1-176.
  3. #1071 Ergin, Kazim, Ugur Guclu, and Zeki Uz (1967). A Catalogue of Earthquakes for Turkey and Surrounding Area (11 A.D. to 1964 A.D.). Istanbul Teknik Universities (Technical University of Istanbul), Istanbul, Turkey.
  4. #9116 Ambraseys, Nicolas (2009). Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East, A Multidisciplinary Study of Seismicity up to 1900. Cambridge University Press, 947 p.
  5. #4408 Papazachos, Basil and Catherin Papazachou (1997). The Earthquakes of Greece. P. Ziti & Co., Thessaloniki, Greece, 304 p.

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

More

Significant earthquakes of 555The 500sRecent 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 143.