July 22, 963 Earthquake: Sicily, Italy
An earthquake struck Sicily, Italy on July 22, 963. 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
- July 22, 963
- Place
- Sicily, Italy
- Intensity
- 11 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 38.000° N, 15.000° E
- Country
- Italy
The toll
- Deaths
- Many (about 101 to 1,000); Very many (over 1,000) with its tsunami and other effects
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.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
July 22, 963. Sicily. A strong earthquake. Many cities and villages were destroyed, ploughed fields were ruined. The sea flooded dry ground, and thousands of inhabitants perished. (reference #2130)
July 22, 963. Sicily. Intensity III which corresponds to an earthquake which destroyed towns and devastated districts.
(reference #1055)
May 12, 963, Egypt. An earthquake was felt in Egypt during the night of 14 Rabi II 352 a.H. The shock was possibly associated with an earthquake that was alleged to have affected Sicily and Syria on 22 July 963, which might have originated in the Hellenic Arc. Al-Suyuti, a sixteenth-century Arab chronicler, states that the earthquakes lasting six months occurred in Egypt during the reign of Kafur the Ikhshid (355-357 a.H.; AD 966-8), which may also refer to this earthquake: Kafur had been effective ruler of Egypt since 344 a.H. (AD 956). (reference #9116)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- December 28, 1908, Messina, Sicily, Calabria, Italy
- January 9, 1693, Sicily, Calabria, Catania, Italy
- January 11, 1693, Sicily, Calabria, Italy
- February 5, 1783, Tyrrhenian Calabria, Italy
- February 4, 1169, Siracusa (Syracuse), Calabria, Sicily, Italy
- 1137, Catania, Sicily, Italy
- August 6, 1757, Siracusa (Syracuse), Italy
- September 16, 1857, Calabria,montemurro, Italy
- March 27, 1638, Cosenza,martirano, Nicastro, Calabria, Italy
- November 5, 1659, Panaija, Soriano, Polia, Italy
- February 6, 1783, Messina Straits, Italy
- 1086, Siracusa (Syracuse), Italy
- January 21, 1065, Catania,messina,milazzo,pale, Sicily, Italy
- September 8, 1905, Monteleone, Tropea, Monte Poro, Italy
- February 12, 1854, Connici,cosenza,pietrafitta,paterno, Italy
More
Significant earthquakes of 963The 900sRecent 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 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 294.