December 28, 1908 Tsunami: Messina Strait, Ionian Sea, Italy

Reference #4138 and #4148:

One of the strongest earthquakes ever to occur in Italy. Messina and Reggio Calabria completely destroyed, and also other villages: Faro, Ganzirri, S.Agata, Pace, Camaro, Gazzi, Cannitello, Villa S.Giovanni, S.Gregorio, etc. Partial destruction in most of Calabria and Sicily. In Messina all buildings ruined and after the shock a violent fire broke out. In Reggio Calabria all buildings ruined. The area of destruction was about 6,000 square km wide. More than 60,000 people died. Some strong foreshocks occurred on December 5, 6, 23, 25 and many aftershocks occurred till February 1909.

Violent tsunami in the Messina Straits that caused severe damage and hundreds of victims. In most places the first movement was a sea withdrawal (in some places about 200 m) for a few minutes. Then the sea flooded the coast with at least three big waves. The sea level oscillations lasted many hours, gradually diminishing. The tsunami reached its maximum intensity in the Calabrian coast near Pellaro, Lazzaro and Gallico and, in the Sicily coast, in Giardini and S.Alessio. It was very strong in the eastern Sicily coast and it was observed in the Tyrrhenian Calabria as far as Porto S.Venere and in Sicily as far as Trabia and Termini Imerese. In some localities the biggest wave was the first, while in others it was the second. The observed maximum wave height generally was an inverse function of the distance from the epicenter, but in the Strait this was masked by local amplification effects. A post-event survey allowed for damage estimates, flooding and run-up: it was ascertained that the tsunami caused many victims (the exact number is unknown, due to the catastrophic effects of the earthquake) and severe damage to buildings, ships, boats and nature. The tsunami involved mainly the eastern Sicily coast but also the southern and the northern ones.

At Messina the first sea movement was an ingression. The wave inundated many places causing severe damage to harbor infrastructures, boats and houses. All piers in the harbor lowered and some of them collapsed. Most damage in the southern beach of the city, close to the Portalegna stream. The english cemetery was completely destroyed. Many boats were carried onshore and destroyed. Many vessels moored in the harbor felt a sudden considerable sea level rise just a few minutes after the shock, and some of them broke their mooring. According to the Harbor Office report, the tsunami occurred 8 min after the shock. At least three huge waves were observed, the first was the biggest. Water height reached about 3 m.

Reference #516:

On both sides of the Strait, many buildings were swept away by the waves. In Sicily, 79 people were drowned, and, on the Calabrian coast, more than 141.

Reference #5096:

Guidoboni et al (2007) contend that 80,000 people were killed by the earthquake, including as many as 2,000 who died as a result of the tsunami. Waves up to 12 m struck the shorelines south of Messina and south of Reggio Calabria, displacing the rubble from collapsed buildings and completing the destruction. All communications in the affected area were disrupted, and rescue operations had to rely on access from the sea.

Reference #10248:

The 28 Dec 1908 Messina earthquake was one of the most destructive events in Italy and was associated with one of the largest tsunami inundations in recent history. About 60 000 people died because of the earthquake and about 1500 were killed by the tsunami. The cities of Messina and Reggio-Calabria were damaged extensively. The tsunami run-up was 3m in the Messina harbour and as high as 13m in the village of Pellaro, and the tsunami waves entered 200m inland in several locations along the coast of the Messina Straits.