October 26, 1802 Tsunami: Black Sea, Romania
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake began at Black Sea, Romania on October 26, 1802 at 10:55 UTC.
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
- October 26, 1802, 10:55 UTC
- Source
- Black Sea, Romania
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7.4, 150 km deep
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 1
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Questionable tsunami
- Source location
- 45.700° N, 26.600° E
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses damaged
- Some (about 51 to 100) 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.
1802 Oct 12. Probable tsunami. Large waves off the town of Evpatoria. From Russian sources, Nikonov (1997a) listed the earthquake and an associated tsunami: “Large waves off the town of Evpatoria, at western coast of Crimea, in calm weather.” However, the description for large waves is not compatible with the same author’s estimated maximum water level rise of >0.5 m. The estimated tsunami intensity was k = II. The mechanism which triggered the waves was possibly a submarine slump caused by the earth shaking [...] Therefore, we do not rule out that the sea wave in that locality was due to a submarine ground failure triggered by the earth shaking. (reference #9391)
1802 Oct 26. Very improbable tsunami. (reference #11164)
1802 Oct 26. Definite tsunami. “In Kezlov (Eupatoria) ... blue waves rose up in the sea as in a boiling cauldron, and all foundations of houses quaked...” (Sumarokov, 1803). (reference #12050)
More
Every tsunami in 1802The 1800sTsunamis of RomaniaThe 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 5843.