March 7, 1867 Tsunami: Lesbos, Greece
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7 earthquake began at Lesbos, Greece on March 7, 1867. Its effects were recorded at 1 place. It killed 563 people, counting the earthquake or eruption that caused it.
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
- March 7, 1867
- Source
- Lesbos, Greece
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 2
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Probable tsunami
- Source location
- 39.200° N, 26.400° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 563 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Missing
- Many (about 101 to 1,000) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- 5,915 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses damaged
- 5,500 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.
Reference #2130:
1867, Mar 7, 18h. Tsunami intensity 2. An eyewitness the sea in the harbour of Mytilini rose and was covered with foam as in the case of an underground explosion; according to another eyewitness, the low part of Mytilini was flooded and cluttered up by silt after the earthquake, in Mytilini swelled, as if its bottom rose, and started to "boil"
Reference #9640:
The low-lying lands of Mitilini were flooded after the earthquake and covered by sludge disorderly. The sea swelled, as if its basin rose up, and started to boil. After the earthquake, dead fishes were found inside a boat in the Mitilini harbor. Abnormal sea movements were observed at dawn the following day (March 8). The main earthquake or one of the strongest aftershocks could have been the reason behind these abnormal movements (Papazachos and Papazachou 1997; Soloviev et al. 2000).
Reference #4408:
In a boat, which was in the harbor of the capital, fishes were found after the earthquake.
Reference #9275:
1867 Mar 7, 06:00, Tsunami intensity 2, Tsunami reliability 4 (definite).
Reference #9116:
1867 Mar 7, It is reported that between the two shocks, the sea within the port of Mitilini was seen rising and foaming over a large area but did not flood the coast [16]. However, there is no evidence of a seismic sea wave preceding or following the earthquakes.
Reference #11164:
1867 Mar 7, 06:00, Tsunami intensity 2, Tsunami reliability 4 (definite).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mytilini | Greece | 17 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1867The 1800sTsunamis 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 2321.