February 28, 1851 Tsunami: Fetiye, Asia Minor, Turkey

Name: February 28, 1851 Tsunami: Fetiye, Asia Minor, Turkey
Start: 1851-02-28
Location: Fetiye, Asia Minor, Turkey

February 28, 1851 · 0.6 m · Probable tsunami

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake began at Fetiye, Asia Minor, Turkey on February 28, 1851 at 15:00 UTC. The water rose as high as 0.6 meters. 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

Tsunami warnings in force

The tsunami

Date: February 28, 1851, 15:00 UTC
Source: Fetiye, Asia Minor, Turkey
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: Magnitude 7.1
Maximum water height: 0.6 m (2.0 ft)
Runups recorded: 1
Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura): 3
Tsunami magnitude (Iida): -0.1
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Probable tsunami
Source location: 36.500° N, 29.000° E

The toll

Damage: Moderate (about $1 to $5 million) 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.

1851 Feb 28, 14:58, 36.5N 28.7 E, event validity 3. A quite strong but short underground shock was followed by a second, stronger and longer shock. Houses collapsed, the earth opened up and smelt of sulfur. Water springs dried up, new ones sprang up. The Mt Baba collapsed into the sea. The village of Chedrac-Vigazi and its inhabitants were buried under landslides from 2 hills. Villages of Dovari, Karagolfa, and Cene (from Fethiye 8 mi. east, 24 mi. east and 60 mi. SW respectively) similarly destroyed. Other 15 villages damaged. At 17h Earthquake on Island of Rhodes damaged houses. Settlement of Livisio, comprising 1500 houses completely destroyed with 600 people killed. Chiorges Village almost completely destroyed. Part of the mountain in the harbor of Ekengik collapsed. Aftershocks in Fethiye and Rhodes continued to the middle of July. (reference #2130)

1851 Feb 28, 15h, 36.3N 28.42 E, event validity 2. (reference #4139)

1851 Feb 28, 15h, 36.6N 28.7 E, event validity 2. (reference #11164)

1851 Feb 28, 15h, 36.4N 28.7 E, event validity 4. (reference #9275)

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
Fetiye (Makri)	Turkey	18	0.6		Eyewitness observation of water height

Every tsunami in 1851 The 1800s Tsunamis of Turkey The earthquake This day in weather history Alerts 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 775.