July 20, 1564 Tsunami: Liguria-Cote D'Azur, France
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 5.8 earthquake and a landslide began at Liguria-Cote D'Azur, France on July 20, 1564. Its effects were recorded at 1 place. It killed 650 people, counting the earthquake or eruption that caused it.
Where the waves reached
The source (white) and every runup with a place, colored by the water height recorded there. A ring is a runup NCEI marks doubtful.
- Under 1 m
- 1 to 3 m
- 3 to 10 m
- 10 to 30 m
- 30 m and more
- Height not recorded
Travel times
How long the first wave took to reach each part of the ocean, one line for each hour up to 24, estimated from the source and the depth of the sea.
The travel times are computed in your browser, which needs JavaScript.
- 1 to 4 hours
- 5 to 6 hours
- 7 to 14 hours
- 15 hours and more
Computed in your browser the way NOAA’s own travel time maps are: the wave travels at the square root of gravity times the depth, over NOAA’s ETOPO1 depths averaged to a 10 arc-minute grid. Checked against NOAA NCEI’s maps for 21 tsunamis over the first 24 hours, these lines fall within 10 minutes of NCEI’s at half the points compared and within 52 minutes at 9 in 10. They give when the first wave could arrive, not how high it is; bays, harbors and island chains finer than the grid can see it later. Not for use in a warning: see tsunami.gov.
The tsunami
- Date
- July 20, 1564
- Source
- Liguria-Cote D'Azur, France
- Cause
- Earthquake and landslide
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 5.8
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 4
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 44.017° N, 7.283° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 650 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million); Extreme (about $25 million or more) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
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.
1564, July 20 (27), 23h [local time]. Ligurian Sea, Italy, France, 44N, 7o17'E, earthquake intensity IX, tsunami intensity 4. An extremely strong earthquake occurred with its focus apparently in the Maritime Alps, possibly in the valley of the River La Vesubie. It embraced Nice, Provence, Villefranche, San Remo, Porto Maurizio and so on. Aftershocks were felt for 50 days and nights. The sea near Nice and Villefranche receded (became lower by "one spear") and its bottom was uncovered; many fish were left there including also some unknown kinds (deep - sea fish [?]). A beach and several shops were flooded in Antibes before the water went away from the seaport. (reference #2130).
1564, July 20. 44o01'N, 7o17'E, magnitude 5.8, intensity 8.5. Tsunami reliability 4, intensity 2. Sea inundation in Antibes. Epicenter located in France, in land close to the Italian border, about 30 km north of Nice. Epicentral area including the Vesubia, Tinea and Roia valleys (near Nice), where severe damage is reported and about 650 people died. Felt also in Sanremo (V MCS). In Nice damage caused by the sea. In Villefranche the sea bottom subsided by about one pike (Mogiol, r59; Almagià, r61). At Antibes the sea at first flooded the beach inundating some shops and then retired leaving the harbour dry (Laurenti, r60). Further references: Bonito (r12), Mercalli (r22), Baratta (r1 and r55), Caputo (r5), Tinti (r9, r597) Soloviev (r582), Boschi (r124). Revisions: Moroni (r62), Rivara (r393), Lambert (r394). (reference #4139)
Some submarine slides are in fact well identified, like that of 1979 at Nice or that of 1564 at Antibes and Villefranche-sur-Mer, this last one having been triggered by an earthquake whose epicentre (Intensity VIII MSK according to SisFrance) was located 40 km inland. (reference #10134)
Every runup
Nearest the source first. Heights are above sea level at the time; a tide gauge reads half the wave’s full height.
| Where | Country | Km from source | Water height, m | Inland, m | Measured by | First wave, UTC | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valley of the River LA Vesubie | France | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1564The 1500sTsunamis of FranceThe earthquakeThis day in weather historyAlerts in force
Sources
Tsunami events and runups 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 tsunami event 3122.