May 24, 1614 Tsunami: Azores, Portugal
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake and a landslide began at Azores, Portugal on May 24, 1614. The water rose as high as 3 meters. Its effects were recorded at 1 place. It killed 200 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
The tsunami
- Date
- May 24, 1614
- Source
- Azores, Portugal
- Cause
- Earthquake and landslide
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 6.3
- Maximum water height
- 3 m (9.8 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Probable tsunami
- Source location
- 38.400° N, 24.100° W
The toll
- Deaths
- 200 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- Many (101 to 1,000) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses damaged
- Many (101 to 1,000) 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.
1614 May 14, 38.7 N 27.0 W. The earthquake of 24 May 1614 induced subaerial landslides, and one particular mass movement on the coast of Terceira Island has been described as the cause for " ... the retreat of the sea and its piling up in the form of a big wall"; the same event changed the coastline in the slide region, creating an incised bay (Maldonado, circa 1690). It is worth mentioning that the AD 1614 flooding and fatalities are also noted in the 18th century record of the Vila da Praia parish (Terceira Island; cf Drummond, 1850-64) and compared with the inundations and effects of the extreme AD 1755 event, suggesting that the 17th century catastrophe was of large magnitude. (reference #5046)
Based on Maldonado [1711] 1990, Guedes and Oliveira (1997) and Andrade et al. (2006) consider the occurrence of a tsunami triggered by a major landslide on the coastline of Terceira Island. Supported by the fatalities book excerpt, Andrade et al. (2006) and Borges et al. (2008) presume that the floods and fatalities of 1614 were bigger and more severe than the ones caused by the 1755 tsunami at Praia da Vitoria, thus estimating a 3 m run-up in this village [...] Although it is not possible to determine the velocity and precise volume of material that entered the sea, the generation of a small tsunami should not be excluded. (reference #13057)
1614 May 14, 38.4 N 24.1 W, probable tsunami. (reference #11164)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Praia da Vitoria, Terceira, Azores | Azores | 261 | 3 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1614The 1600sTsunamis of PortugalThe 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 5812.