October 11, 1869 Tsunami: Black Sea, Ukraine
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 5.6 earthquake began at Black Sea, Ukraine on October 11, 1869 at 13:00 UTC. The water rose as high as 1 meters. Its effects were recorded at 2 places.
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
The tsunami
- Date
- October 11, 1869, 13:00 UTC
- Source
- Black Sea, Ukraine
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 5.6, 18 km deep
- Maximum water height
- 1 m (3.3 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 2
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 3
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Probable tsunami
- Source location
- 44.750° N, 35.000° E
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Few (about 1 to 50) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses damaged
- Few (about 1 to 50)
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.
1869, October 11, 11:10 [local time]. 44.8 N, 34.9 E, depth 18 km, magnitude 5.6, intensity VII. Weak tsunami. The 1-m tsunami in Yevpatoriye is noteworthy; it flooded the embankment for several seconds...(reference #223)
1869, October 11, 13 UTC. Crimea, 44o45'N 35oE, earthquake intensity VIII, tsunami reliability 1. Strong earthquake felt in Crimea. At Sudak church walls fissured. Sudak-Taraktash region suffered much damage. Felt at Sevastopol and Livadia. In some South Crimea harbours sea level rising (Grigorash, ref #10532). (reference #4139)
1869 November 11, definite tsunami. Based on Russian sources, Nikonov (1997a) listed a shallow earthquake (M = 6.0±0.2) and a tsunami event in Crimea: “Town of Sudak: a violent horizontal recession of the sea by 2m and a slow return to the ordinary level in 10 min. A strong tidal wave as high as 1m near the town of Evpatoria.” (reference #9391)
1869 November 11, definite tsunami. In Sudak, “the sea quickly retreated for a sazhen along the whole coast ..., and then returned to the previous level.” “In Eupatoria, a short-term strong tidal wave up to 1 m in height appeared, which flooded the embankment” (Smirnov, 1931). “In the city of Eupatoria, the wave damaged the wall of a house” (Polumb, 1933). (reference #12050)
On 11 October 1869 an earthquake occurred with speculated magnitude of 6, and approximate epicenter 44.7 N, 35 E, in the vicinity of the town of Sudak in the southeastern part of the Crimea. The earthquake intensity was about 7–8 in Yalta, Sevastopol, and Sudak. Fast receding of the sea of about 2 m in Sudak and 1-m high tide in Yevpatoriya was observed [Nikonov, 1997]. The intensity of this tsunami can be considered as intensity II–IV according to the new tsunami intensity scale of Papadopoulos and Imamura [2001]. (reference #4213)
1869, October 11, 13 UTC. Questionable tsunami (reference #11164)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sudak | Ukraine | 10 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Yevpatoriya | Ukraine | 138 | 1 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1869The 1800sTsunamis of UkraineThe 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 2294.