March 31, 1901 Tsunami: Black Sea, Bulgaria

Name: March 31, 1901 Tsunami: Black Sea, Bulgaria
Start: 1901-03-31
Location: Black Sea, Bulgaria

March 31, 1901 · 3 m · 4 deaths · 1,200 houses destroyed · Probable tsunami

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake began at Black Sea, Bulgaria on March 31, 1901 at 07:12 UTC. The water rose as high as 3 meters. Its effects were recorded at 1 place. It killed 4 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

Travel times

How long the first wave took to reach each part of the ocean, one line for each hour up to 24, estimated from the source and the depth of the sea.

The travel times are computed in your browser, which needs JavaScript.

1 to 4 hours
5 to 6 hours
7 to 14 hours
15 hours and more

Computed in your browser the way NOAA’s own travel time maps are: the wave travels at the square root of gravity times the depth, over NOAA’s ETOPO1 depths averaged to a 10 arc-minute grid. Checked against NOAA NCEI’s maps for 21 tsunamis over the first 24 hours, these lines fall within 10 minutes of NCEI’s at half the points compared and within 52 minutes at 9 in 10. They give when the first wave could arrive, not how high it is; bays, harbors and island chains finer than the grid can see it later. Not for use in a warning: see tsunami.gov.

The tsunami

Date: March 31, 1901, 07:12 UTC
Source: Black Sea, Bulgaria
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: Magnitude 7.2
Maximum water height: 3 m (9.8 ft)
Runups recorded: 1
Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura): 4
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Probable tsunami
Source location: 43.400° N, 28.500° E

The toll

Deaths: 4 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Injuries: 50 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Damage: Severe (about $5 to $25 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Houses destroyed: 1,200 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.

Oral report that along the Balchik shore small boats were uplifted about 3 m by the sea. (reference #4139)

The most recent tsunami to be seismically generated was due to the 1901 M = 7.2, MSK I = X earthquake that occurred in the sea in the Shabla-Kaliakra seismic zone causing subsidence, landslides and rockfalls. Tsunami inundation with a maximum height of around 2.5-3 meters was reported by an eyewitness in the Balchik port. (reference #4176)

1901 March 31, 07:12 UTC, 43.4 N 28.7 E, Tsunami intensity 4, Tsunami reliability 4 (definite). (reference #11164)

1901 March 31, 43.4 N 28.5 E, Tsunami reliability 4 (definite). At Balchik boats uplifted (GITEC) and landslide occurred. The coastal area (0.2 km2) at Kecikaya District subsided. A three-meter-high tsunami washed away the port of Balchik. (reference #9275)

1901 March 31, 07:12 UTC, Tsunami reliability 3 (probable). A large earthquake of M =7.1 and maximum intensity of X degree (MSK) or IX–X (EMS) occurred offshore Shabla- Kaliakra, NE Bulgaria, causing surface landslides of several km and subsidence of about 3 m. “The boats in the port of Balchik were uplifted about the same altitude” (Ranguelov, 1996). This information came from an eyewitness reviewed in early 70’s by B. Ranguelov. Tsunami inundation with a maximum height of about 2.5–3m was reported by an eyewitness at the Balchik port (Grigorova and Grigorov, 1964). (reference #9391)

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
Balchik	Bulgaria	27	3		Eyewitness observation of water height

Every tsunami in 1901 The 1900s Tsunamis of Bulgaria 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 3725.