January 9, 1693 Tsunami: Eastern Sicily, Italy
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6 earthquake began at Eastern Sicily, Italy on January 9, 1693 at 21:00 UTC. It killed 60,000 people, counting the earthquake or eruption that caused it.
Where the waves reached
The source of the tsunami. No runup with a place is recorded for it.
- 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
- January 9, 1693, 21:00 UTC
- Source
- Eastern Sicily, Italy
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 6
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 2
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Questionable tsunami
- Source location
- 37.333° N, 15.167° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 60,000 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- Extreme (about $25 million or more) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- 972 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.
1693, January 9, 21 UTC. 37o20'N, 15o10'E, earthquake magnitude 6, intensity 8.5, tsunami intensity 2, reliability 2. Large sea withdrawal and flooding. Strong seismic period affecting eastern Sicily. Strong shock located in the sea not far from the coast, between Catania and Augusta. A recent study (Bianca, r608) identifies the genetic fault in the Avola fault, located about 5 km inland and grossly parallel to the coast. In the harbour of Augusta, anomalous movement of the sea (Campis, r93). Further references: Baratta (r1), Caputo (r5), Soloviev (r414-r582), Tinti (r9,r534 ,r597), Piatanesi (r530), Bianca (r608). (reference #4139)
1693 January 09, 21 h. Cause: submarine earthquake. Listed as questionable tsunami. A recent study (Bianca et al., 1999) identifies the genetic fault in the Avola fault, located about 5 km inland and grossly parallel to the coast. In the harbour of Augusta anomalous movement of the sea was observed (Campis, 1980). (reference #11164, v.2)
More
Every tsunami in 1693The 1600sTsunamis of ItalyThe 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 3813.