1668 Tsunami: Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan

Name: 1668 Tsunami: Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan
Location: Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan

1668 · 7,000 deaths · Questionable tsunami

A tsunami caused by an earthquake began at Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan in 1668. Its effects were recorded at 1 place. It killed 7,000 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

Tsunami warnings in force

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: 1668
Source: Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: The earthquake
Runups recorded: 1
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Questionable tsunami
Source location: 40.600° N, 48.600° E

The toll

Deaths: 7,000 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Damage: Severe (about $5 to $25 million) 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.

Part of the beach was covered by the sea. An increase in water level was noticed in the Terek River delta (reference #14161, #14162)

Note: linked to a number of earthquakes between 1667-1669 in Shemakha region. Date uncertain despite linking to 1668 January 14 event.

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
Terek River	Russia	344			Eyewitness observation of water height

Every tsunami in 1668 The 1600s Tsunamis of Azerbaijan The earthquake Alerts 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 6050.