October 18, 1343 Tsunami: Marmara Sea, Strait of Bosporus, Turkey

Reference #9116

1343, October 18. Several hours later, between the first and second hours of the night, a large shock occurred.

...As a result of the shock the sea rose to a 'man's parts [height?]' and flooded the coast to a considerable distance, casting sailing ships in harbours onto land. In places the sea advanced 10 stadia (1.8km) inland, carrying away people, flocks and herds, drowning them all. When it retired after much ebb and flow, the sea left the land littered with dead fish and covered with mud. It is not known exactly where this happened, but it must have occurred along the low-lying parts of the coast of Thrace where the sea wave must have caused additional damage.

It is said that at Constantinople the sea rose against the sea walls and some parts, together with towers, collapsed, and the sea flooded up as far as Stavros (Istavros, now Beylerbey) on the eastern coast of the Bosphorous northeast of Scutari. In open places the sea flooded buildings built near the coast, caused houses to collapse, and even made fences of vineyards and orchards fall over, with the rubble blocking streets.

Reference #2130

1344 (Possibly 1331, 1332, 1334, 1342, 1343), on either February 12 or October 14, 18. Zone of the Sea of Marmara, Strait of Bosporus. An earthquake with its focus on the western shore. Destruction in Constantinople. The earthquake was felt in Khersonisos and Lysimachia, on the shore of the Gulf of Saros. Huge sea waves caused significant damage on the western coast of the Sea of Marmara. They flooded the shore of Titrace at a great distance, for a mile in some places. The water went under the fortress gate in Constantinople, knocking it down and flooding the houses inside the fortress. Several ships that were in the harbour or had been sailing along the coast were taken up by a wave and smashed against the sea shore. Many people, reserves of food and goods were lost. Receding back to usual limits, the sea left a lot of mud and dead fish on the dry land; some sources mentioned waves on the shore of Syria.

Reference #521

1344. Middle of the autumn. Constantinople, Syria, and Egypt. Many and violent shocks. The sea inundated its shores at Constantinople.

Reference #2427

1343, October 18. Destructive inundation in Constantinople.

Reference #4139

1344, October 14. Marmara Sea. 40o48' N, 28o48' E, earthquake magnitude 6.9, tsunami reliability 4, intensity 4. Strong inundation and shipwrecks In the middle of autumn of 1344 A.D. many and violent earthquakes occurred in Constantinople. One of the strongest shock occurred on October 14th (some authors report the shock on October 18th). In Constantinople many houses and most of the city walls collapsed. During the shock a great wave inundated the shore for a great distance, for more than one mile. In some places the wave swept away a number of vessels that were in the harbour or sailing near the coast, and crashed them on land. Many people perished. When the sea retired, a lot of fish were left on the beach (Gregorash, reference #10878). According to Antonopoulos (reference #26) the maximum inundation was about 2 km. (reference #4139)