May 23, 1829 Tsunami: Istanbul, Turkey
A tsunami caused by an earthquake began at Istanbul, Turkey on May 23, 1829.
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
- May 23, 1829
- Source
- Istanbul, Turkey
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- The earthquake
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Very doubtful tsunami
- Source location
- 41.000° N, 29.000° E
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 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.
1829 May 23. Two shocks at Istanbul, on the Asiatic coast buildings were injured (MMC, PAP), not mentioned in (ONB, GG), tsunami at Istanbul (ANS), buildings only shaken in Istanbul (reference #1099)
1829 May 23. Tsunami in Istanbul; a spurious event; two shocks in Istanbul, buildings damaged on the Asiatic coast. An unusual roughness in the sea was observed (reference #9275)
More
Every tsunami in 1829The 1800sTsunamis of TurkeyThe 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 6023.