July 1882 Tsunami: Binh Thuan, Vietnam

The second event, according to Xuyen (2007), was written in a history book referred to as Great Nam Unification History, or, in Vietnamese, "Dai Nam Nhat thong chi," which describes how "in 1882, there was again an earthquake at the Binh Thuan coast; high waves rose up with many loud explosions within one day."

The coastal areas of central Vietnam have many active small-scale volcanos, and the submarine eruption of volcanos can cause earthquakes and tsunamis. So, if the tsunamis in 1877 and 1882 at Binh Thuan coast really happened, the earthquakes that caused the tsunamis could have been caused by submarine volcanoes. Since at the time there was no seismic recording station near the Vietnam coast, the earthquakes were not recorded. Also, seismic stations near the Philippines coast could not record such weak earthquakes.

The author has collected all seismic data from 1662 up to today (Bautista et al., 2006; Berninghausen, 1969; Lau et al., 2010; USGS, 2012) and available seawater level data in the East Sea with the purpose of detecting any abnormal seawater level variation after earthquakes. Through this analysis, no abnormal water level variation was found at the coast of Vietnam after submarine earthquakes in the East Sea.

(all above from reference #12165)

The Phan Theit earthquake of 7/1882 occurred in Binh Thuan province, with roars heard from the sea like canon sounds for all day (V.M. Giang, 2000). N.K. Mao (1974) wrote that in 1882, earthquake occurred in a coastal zone, causing high waves from the sea, followed by many blast-like sounds during a day. There was no information on volcanic activities related to this earthquake. However, it is written in a historical book "Dai Nam nhat thong chi" (Volume 12) as follows: "in Binh Thuan, there is a swarm of volcanoes in the northern part of Tuy Phong ward, next to Hoa Da ward in the north. The swarm consists of about ten volcanoes standing next to each other. In summer, during a hot time, the fire columns are erupted from volcanoes continuously, non stop, look like a burning citadel (collected and quoted by N.K. Mao, 1974). (reference #12502)