December 28, 1869 Tsunami: Ionian Sea, Greece

Name: December 28, 1869 Tsunami: Ionian Sea, Greece
Start: 1869-12-28
Location: Ionian Sea, Greece

December 28, 1869 · 15 deaths · Questionable tsunami

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6.2 earthquake began at Ionian Sea, Greece on December 28, 1869 at 03:00 UTC. Its effects were recorded at 1 place. It killed 15 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

Tsunami warnings in force

The tsunami

Date: December 28, 1869, 03:00 UTC
Source: Ionian Sea, Greece
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: Magnitude 6.2
Runups recorded: 1
Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura): 3
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Questionable tsunami
Source location: 38.827° N, 20.669° E

The toll

Deaths: 15 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Injuries: Some (about 51 to 100) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Damage: Severe (about $5 to $25 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Houses damaged: Many (101 to 1,000) 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.

Three huge tsunami waves were observed in the sea near Vlore. (reference #2130)

1869 December 28, 38.75 N 20.75 E, questionable tsunami (reference #11164, v.2)

1869 December 28, Lefkas […] Modern writers, with little justification, extend the effects of the earthquake to Albania, to Durazzo and Valona, 300 km away, where, they say, the shock was preceded by the sea flooding the coast thrice (Mihailovic 1951 b ), or to Chalk is, 250 km to the east, and even as far as Monteleone and Calabria, 520 km to the west, in Sicily (Sieberg 1932b, 766; Papazachos and Papazachou 1997, 244). (reference #9116)

Before the earthquake basies (enters) were observed, that is, rising and rushing of the sea water to the land and withdraw during and after the earthquake (Stamatelos, 1870; Schmidt, 1879a; Chiotes, 1886-87; Critikos, 1916; Sieberg, 1932b; Kavasakales and Polymenakos, 1988). (reference #4408)

During and after the earthquake, the sea inundated the coast and then receded. (reference #14265)

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
Vlore (Avlona)	Albania	210			Eyewitness observation of water height

Every tsunami in 1869 The 1800s Tsunamis of Greece 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 1012.