May 14, 1748 Tsunami: Corinthos-Patras Gulf, Greece
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6.8 earthquake began at Corinthos-Patras Gulf, Greece on May 14, 1748. Its effects were recorded at 1 place.
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
- May 14, 1748
- Source
- Corinthos-Patras Gulf, Greece
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 6.8
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 3
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 38.300° N, 22.100° E
The toll
- Deaths
- Many (about 101 to 1,000)
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million); Severe (about $5 to $25 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- Some (about 51 to 100); 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.
1748, May 25. Aegio. A violent earthquake at 3 pm, on Tuesday 14 May 1748 (O.S.) preceded by a strong foreshock, caused extensive damage in the northern Peloponnese. The shock almost totally ruined the greater part of Vostiza (Egio). Many houses, churches and towers collapsed with little or no loss of life, due to the fact that the people, warned by the foreshock, had taken refuge in the open. The shock caused serious damage to settlements on either side of the Gulf of Corinth, destroying a number of small villages on the northern coast of the Gulf opposite Vostiza and to the east as far as near Corinth. At Corinth some parts of the mosque of Sultan Mehmet II were damaged. To the west of Vostiza, in Patra, the earthquake caused great panic and some minor damage. The shock was strongly felt in Zante and throughout the Peloponnese.
Following the earthquake the sea in the Gulf of Corinth near Vostiza receded a great distance from the shore and, on returning with great violence, flooded the town three times. The third wave was so large that it reached the upper part of the town, beyond the Platanos, flooding the hill slopes to the south that overlook the town, washing away houses, stores and the customs house, and stripping trees of their leaves. Destruction was instantaneous and all sailing ships, boats and two large coasting vessels in the port at the time of the earthquake were totally destroyed. A seaman was carried by the waves 500 m inland and deposited unharmed on the hillside above the town. The sea wave added to the earthquake damage all along the central part of the Gulf of Corinth, where many people and domestic animals were swept away and drowned, the wave leaving behind it a great quantity of shells and dead fish, which littered the streets of Vostiza and of other villages along the coast.
Aftershocks continued for many weeks, causing the survivors to flee their villages, some of them moving permanently to Patras and Zante.
(above from reference #9116)
1748, May 25. 38.3 N, 22.1 E, magnitude 6.8. Maximum runup 10 m. (reference #330)
1748, May 25, 15 UTC. W. Corinth Gulf. 38o12' N, 22o12' E, earthquake magnitude 6.6, intensity IX, tsunami intensity 4, reliability 4. Damaging waves in Aeghio. (reference #2427)
1748, May 25, 15 UTC. W. Corinth Gulf. 38o12' N, 22o12' E, earthquake magnitude 6.6, intensity IX, tsunami intensity 4, reliability 4. Damaging waves in Aeghio. (reference #2591)
1748, May 14. 38o18' N, 22o06' E, earthquake magnitude 6.8, intensity IX. Strong earthquake in Achaia (N Peloponnesus). A severe shock followed by a destructive tsunami ruined Aeghion (Galanopoulos, ref #109).
At Aigion tsunami intensity III attributed by Antonopoulos (ref #27) quoting "Parnassos, Athens". (reference #4139)
1748, May 14. Peloponnesus (Achaia). 38.25 N, 22.25 E. A severe shock, followed by a destructive tsunami, ruined Aeghion. (reference #109)
1748, May 14. Ionian Sea, Gulf of Corinth. 38.25 N, 22.25 E, earthquake intensity IX, tsunami intensity 3, validity 2. The town of Aiyion [Aeghio] was destroyed due to the strong underground shock and the tsunami caused by it (reference #2130).
1748 May 14. North Peloponnesus. Aigion (iii).
(reference #15)
1748 May 14. North Peloponnesus. Aigion (iii). 38.5 N, 22.25 E, earthquake intensity IX. (reference #20, #27)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vostiza (Egio, Aigio, Aeghion) | Greece | 5 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1748The 1700sTsunamis of GreeceThe 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 429.