April 3, 1881 Tsunami: Chios Island, Aegean Islands, Greece
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake began at Chios Island, Aegean Islands, Greece on April 3, 1881 at 11:40 UTC. It killed 7,866 people, counting the earthquake or eruption that caused it.
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
- April 3, 1881, 11:40 UTC
- Source
- Chios Island, Aegean Islands, Greece
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 6.5
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 2
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Questionable tsunami
- Source location
- 38.200° N, 26.200° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 7,866 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- Extreme (about $25 million or more) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- Very many (over 1,000) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses damaged
- Very many (over 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.
April 3, 1881, 38.2 N, 26.1 E, magnitude 6.5, tsunami intensity 2, Island of Chios. A sea wave occurred, because spots of fresh sand were found in the wall of the garden. Possible tsunami. (Gusiakov et al. table, Appendix 2, lists as very doubtful). (reference #2130)
April 3, 1881, 11:40 UTC, 38 deg 12 min N, 26 deg 12 min E, magnitude 6.5, tsunami intensity 3, validity 3. (reference #2427)
A few minutes after the main shock, a strong aftershock occurred destroying the buildings that had not taken any damage during the main shock (Henriet, 1883). Other aftershocks occurred approximately every 15 min. In addition, the strong aftershock that occurred on 4 April 1881 caused the island mass to sink 1m (L’Agence Havas, 14 April 1881; Vakit, 15 April 1881). On 5 April at 03:10 a.m., a strong vertically effective earthquake demolished some city walls. The sea became wavy right away and a mass of smoke was seen rising from sea surface (Impartial, 5 April 1881). Some spots of fresh sand were found in the wall of the garden in Chios (Papazachos and Papazachou, 1997). This may imply that a sea wave (tsunami) occurred, possibly after the main shock. Meanwhile, it is known that the aftershocks created waves on the sea surface (Benndorf, 1884). (reference #4676)
April 3, 1881, 11:50 UTC, 38.3 N, 26.2 E, Tsunami reliability 2 (questionable). (reference #11164)
April 3, 1881, 11:30 UTC, 38.3 N, 26.2 E, Tsunami intensity 2, Tsunami reliability 3 (probable). (reference #9275)
Tsunamis observed during 1881 and 1949 events cannot be directly associated with the coastal landslides along the steep shores of Chios Island and the Karaburun Peninsula. But it is believed that the aforementioned causative faults and some accompanying underwater failures are the main reasons of these tsunamis. They were not as dangerous as the ones in oceans but caused some destruction making a further investigation of the tsunamis in the region necessary. (reference #13873)
1881 Apr 3, Chios. The earthquake and many of its aftershocks were felt at sea; there is no evidence that the main shock or its aftershocks were associated with a seismic sea wave. The presence of wet sand some distance from the shore, interpreted by some authors as implying that there had been a sea wave to deposit it, was due to local liquefaction of the ground. (reference #9116)
More
Every tsunami in 1881The 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 3458.