November 21, 1751 Tsunami: Ligurian Sea, Italy
A tsunami caused by an earthquake began at Ligurian Sea, Italy on November 21, 1751 at 09:45 UTC. 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
- November 21, 1751, 09:45 UTC
- Source
- Ligurian Sea, Italy
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- The earthquake
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 3
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Questionable tsunami
- Source location
- 43.800° N, 9.000° E
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
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.
November 21, 1751, 10:45 [local time]. (Possibly 1752, February). Ligurian Sea, Italy, France, 44.5 N, 9.25 E, earthquake intensity VI, tsunami intensity 3. An underground shock caused some damage to buildings east of the shore up to Genoa, where it was very strong. The earthquake was felt more weakly in the western Riviera including San Remo, and weakly up to Milan. The sea in the harbour of Genoa became so stormy that ships battered by the waves seemed to be sunk, but they were only damaged. (reference #2130).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harbour of Genoa | Italy | 67 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1751The 1700sTsunamis 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 3166.