March 26, 1511 Tsunami: North Adriatic, Italy

1511, March 26. Adriatic Sea, Gulf of Venice. Very strong underground shocks occurred in the regions of Friuli and Veneto at short time intervals between 20h and 20h30m; each of them lasted approximately 10sec and was accompanied by a loud underground rumble. Nothing but debris remained of the castle and an old extension of the church of S. Giovanni in Udine. The earthquake caused destruction in Cividale del Friuli, Madonna del Lanto, Faedis, Venzone, Tarcento, Tolmino and many other places. Rock falls occurred in the mountains near Gemona, and the River Livenza stopped flowing for a moment. Some old sources of water in the pleistoseistal area dried up, and new sources appeared. The earthquake was felt in Venice, Padua, Treviso, and in other places. The macroseismic epicentre was possibly located between Gemona (del Friuli) and Tolmino. 4-5 shocks more were felt at night, but they were weaker and shorter than the former.

Rollers appeared in the sea. They grew with such a roar that the citizens of Trieste, frightened by this phenomenon, were forced to leave their dwellings and to hide on the hill near the castle. In the Lagoon of Venice the water rose in canals up to the windows of the buildings [Baratta, 1901, 1936; Radics, 1902; Caloi et. al., 1970; 19841. In the later catalogue the co-ordinates of the earthquake epicentre are given as 46o15' N and 13o20' E; the earthquake intensity as I = X, i [tsunami] = 5-6. In Caputo and Faita [1982] i = 6 [?].

In Guidoboni and Tinti [1989] with a reference to Ribaric [1979, ref #1123], it was mentioned that the earthquake was felt in Istria, its intensity was I = IX - X; it was not possible to find any information on the tsunami in the region of Trieste during the recent comprehensive study of the earthquake [Gentile et ai., 1984]. In addition to this, with reference to a source of the 16th century, data were given on the fact that during the earthquake in Venice the water went away far from the coast, and some fairly deep canals dried up. At the same time, the authors of the paper, on the basis of the absence of destruction and victims in Venice, believed that the estimate of the tsunami intensity should be reduced.

(above from reference #2130).

1511, March 26. 46o12'N, 13o26'E, earthquake magnitude 6.5, intensity IX, tsunami intensity 2, reliability 2. Epicenter located in land, very far from the coast. Severe damage in Udine and Venice. Felt area very wide, involving Istria, Slovenia, Germany, Croatia, etc. Number of dead people uncertain, but probably low. At Venice anomalous oscillations in the canals (Bembo, ref #10567) and some canals dried (Sanudo, ref #10568). At Trieste the sea level rose so much that the inhabitants climbed up to S.Giusto (Marsich, ref #10569). Tsunami revised by Guidoboni (ref #10570). (reference #4139)