February 3, 1899 Tsunami: Azores, Portugal

1899 February 03. Tsunami at Velas, Ilha de Sao Jorge. The town was invaded by three large waves which caused destruction and one death. (Reference #41)

1899 February 03, Seismic (?) and submarine slide (?). Notwithstanding the reports of the February 1899 storm having caused damage along the coast of Terceira, S. Jorge, Faial and Graciosa islands (Uniao, 1899). a peculiar flood event at Velas (S. Jorge) is described by Avellar (1902), which, although contemporaneous with the storm, once more exceeds extreme storm surges in associated intensity and damage. '''The sea overwashed the graveyard [stone] wall [circa 100 to 150 m inland and at least 10 m elevation ----- cf. Avila, 1989] ... destroyed the corner of a house ... and filled with stone debris the nearby road in such a manner that it remained blocked .. ,"; besides the flood, this account describes "a woman, fleeing from the flood was caught by the rushing ebb ... dragged her to the lowtide ... and was seen no more". The impact of this flooding produced damage to houses, destroyed a section of a fortress and defence walls (in one case down to foundations), infilled farm land (suggesting sediment movement and deposition inland), blocked streets and roads with stones from the walls and swept offshore a boat named S. Jorge. Avellar's U 902) description also refers to similar flooding and damage of the settlements along the eastern shore of the island. This event is also considered as tsunamigenic in the NGDC database. (reference #5046)

1899 February 03, Very doubtful tsunami, Meteorological cause (?). This event was widely reported in the local press. The newspaper O Angrense (1899) related that, for several days, S. Jorge Island was affected by strong winds and huge waves that rose more than 10 m and invaded land, causing severe damage to agriculture and one death. There is also a reference to the poor sea conditions on Terceira and Faial islands. A Uniao (1899a) newspaper reports that the sea knocked down part of Santa Cruz fortress, invaded land in the Misericordia locality, destroyed one house, damaged some others and, in Terreiros, Manadas and Urselina ports, swept away some fishing boats. In A Uniao (1899b) it is written that the intense storm that caused serious damage in S. Jorge and Faial islands for 8 days also reached Graciosa Island [...] The flood is more likely to be related to the severe and persistent storm that affected several islands of the archipelago, as suggested by Guedes and Oliveira (1997). (reference #13057)

1899 February 03, 38.64 N 28.03 W, Very improbable tsunami, Unknown cause (?). (reference #11164)