August 16, 1916 Tsunami: Central Adriatic, Italy

Name: August 16, 1916 Tsunami: Central Adriatic, Italy
Start: 1916-08-16
Location: Central Adriatic, Italy

August 16, 1916 · 4 deaths · Definite tsunami

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6 earthquake began at Central Adriatic, Italy on August 16, 1916 at 07:06:22 UTC. 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

The tsunami

Date: August 16, 1916, 07:06:22 UTC
Source: Central Adriatic, Italy
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: Magnitude 6
Runups recorded: 1
Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura): 2
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Definite tsunami
Source location: 44.035° N, 13.009° E

The toll

Deaths: 4 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Injuries: 60 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Damage: Severe (about $5 to $25 million) 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.

At Tavollo tsunami waves observed (reference #4139)

A seismically active interval that started on 17 May 1916 and lasted till December 1916 caused disastrous damage at Rimini and in the neighbouring villages. The main shock was on 17 May, but the shock of 16 August (VII MCS; Boschi et al. 1997) was particularly strong along the coast. At Tavollo, close to Pesaro, a fisherman who was in his boat about 700 m from the shore said that the sea was calm until suddenly he noted four waves about 20 cm high travelling from the open sea towards the beach. When the waves came to his boat, his fishing tool moved and rose from the sea bottom. Then, the waves reached the beach (Alfani 1916; Boschi et al. 1997; Corriere della Sera 1916; La Gazzetta di Parma 1916) (Fig. 9). The earthquake of 16 August 1916 was also felt on the eastern side of the Adriatic (e.g. Obzor 1916), but no tsunami waves were reported on the eastern coast. (reference #9531)

At Tavollo, close to Pesaro, a fisherman who was in his boat about 700 m from the shore said that the sea was calm until suddenly just before the shock he noted four waves about 20 cm high travelling from the open sea towards the beach. When the waves came to his boat, his fishing tools moved and rose from the sea bottom where they were moored. Then, the waves reached the beach (Alfani 1916; Boschi et al. 1997; Corriere della Sera 1916; La Gazzetta di Parma 1916; Anonymous, 1916a, b). The earthquake of 16 August 1916 was also felt on the eastern side of the Adriatic (e.g. Obzor 1916), but no tsunami waves were reported on the eastern coast. (reference #11164)

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
Foce Tavollo, Pesaro	Italy	22	0.2		Eyewitness observation of water height

Every tsunami in 1916 The 1900s Tsunamis of Italy 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 3811.