July 3, 1916 Tsunami: Stromboli Island, Italy
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 5.1 earthquake began at Stromboli Island, Italy on July 3, 1916 at 23:21:41 UTC. The water rose as high as 10 meters. Its effects were recorded at 3 places.
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
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
- July 3, 1916, 23:21:41 UTC
- Source
- Stromboli Island, Italy
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 5.1
- Volcano
- The eruption that caused it
- Maximum water height
- 10 m (32.8 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 3
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 4
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 38.817° N, 15.233° E
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses damaged
- Few (about 1 to 50) 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.
1916, July 4(3), 00:21 [local time]. Tyrrhenian Sea, Lipari Islands, 38.8 N, 15.2 E, earthquake magnitude 4.2, intensity VII, tsunami intensity 4, reliability 2. A very strong explosive eruption of the volcano of Stromboli was accompanied by an earthquake. The vertically directed shock, which lasted 3 s, shook the entire island. It was rather strong on the shore of Calabria between Amantea and Cape Vaticano, as well as on the other Lipari Islands (Salina, Lipari, Panarea, Vulcano). The approximately 10 m rise of water was noticed on the Island of Stromboli, especially in the direction toward S. Bartolo. (reference #2130)
1916, July 3, 23:21:41 UTC. Aeolian Islands, 38o49'N, 15o14'E, earthquake magnitude 5.1, intensity 6.5, tsunami intensity 2, reliability 4. Violent eruption at the Stromboli volcano accompanied by a strong earthquake, causing some light damage in the buildings. Shock felt along the Tyrrhenian Calabrian coast from Amantea to Capo Vaticano. Also felt in Lipari Salina and Vulcano Islands.
At Stromboli, in the S. Bartolo village, the sea level rose by about 10 m (Cavasino, ref #1059).
According to Ponte (ref #10526) "...the inhabitants of Piscità, soon after the explosion, observed a sudden sea retreat and then violently the water invaded almost completely the beach. The first wave penetrated by about 20 m on the beach and heaps of seaweeds were carried on land. The sea behavior, according to the inhabitants, was only noted on the northern beach of the island (Spiaggia Longa), while at San Vincenzo, on the north-eastern coast, the sea behaviour was as usual".
Further references: Carrozzo (ref #10527), Caputo (ref #3470), Antonopoulos (ref #2426), Tinti (ref #2067).
Revisions: Maramai (ref #10525)
(above from reference #4139)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Bartolo, Stromboli Island | Italy | 1 | 10 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Piscita, Stromboli Island | Italy | 1 | 20 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Spiaggia Longa, Stromboli Island | Italy | 1 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1916The 1900sTsunamis of ItalyThe earthquakeThe eruptionThis day in weather historyAlerts 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 3147.