September 26, 1932 Tsunami: North Aegean, Greece

Name: September 26, 1932 Tsunami: North Aegean, Greece
Start: 1932-09-26
Location: North Aegean, Greece

September 26, 1932 · 2 m · 161 deaths · 4,106 houses destroyed · Definite tsunami

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6.9 earthquake began at North Aegean, Greece on September 26, 1932 at 19:20:42 UTC. The water rose as high as 2 meters. Its effects were recorded at 2 places. It killed 161 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: September 26, 1932, 19:20:42 UTC
Source: North Aegean, Greece
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: Magnitude 6.9, 35 km deep
Maximum water height: 2 m (6.6 ft)
Runups recorded: 2
Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura): 3
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Definite tsunami
Source location: 40.500° N, 23.900° E

The toll

Deaths: 161 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Injuries: 669 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Damage: Limited (under about $1 million); Extreme (about $25 million or more) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Houses destroyed: 4,106 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Houses damaged: 3,218 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.

1932, Sept 26. Aegean Sea, northern Greece. A catastrophic (I=XI) earthquake occurred with its focus possibly in the region of the Gulf of Ierissos. The operator of a seagoing dredge anchored in the River Strimonas 1 km from its estuary was disturbed from his sleep. He heard the noise of a strong flow approximately an hour after the earthquake and saw a current spreading up along the river. It continued half an hour, and then the direction of the current was reversed, ie. it started to flow down the river. A temporary automatic tide gauge installed near the estuary of the River Stritnonas in the Gulf of Orfani recorded the tidal wave 1 m high. It did not cause any damage. Reliable tsunami. (reference #2130)

1932, Sept 26. Gulf of Hierissos, 40.5 N, 23.75 E, earthquake intensity X and magnitude 6.9. Chalcidice (tsunami intensity II). (references #15, 20, and 29)

1932, Sept 26, 21:26:56. 40.5 N, 23.8 E, magnitude 6.0. Ierissos Gulf (tsunami intensity II). (reference #330)

1932, Sept 26, 19:20:42 UTC. 40.5 N, 23.9 E, magnitude 7.0, intensity X. Violent shock in Chalkidiki, particularly strong in Herissos-Stratonion. Faulting of 12 km, cracks, landslides, changes in wells, casualties. At Chalkidiki tsunami intensity II according to Antonopoulos (ref #29) who quotes Belousek (ref #11247).

1932, Sept 26, 19:20:42 UTC. 40.3 N, 23.54 E, Tsunami at Chalkidiki. Improbable tsunami. (reference #4139)

1932, Sept 26, 19:20:42 UTC. 40.45 N, 23 E, magnitue 7.0, intensity X. Damaging wave in Ierissos, 200 m inundation, tsunami intensity 3. (reference #2427)

The sea level rose 2m in the line Hierissos - Stratoni. The sea wave destroyed the weir of the fish farm in the gulf of Porto Lago. (reference #4408)

The 26 September 1932, M = 7.0 Chalkidiki earthquake generated a tsunami, which affected the eastern coast of Strymonikos Gulf and more specifically the coastal areas of Hierissos, Stratoni, Olympiada, and Nea Roda. It rushed on the land about 30 m and was retreated and flooded the coast 4–5 times. Further east, in Porto Lago Gulf, the waves destroyed the weir of the fish farm. (reference #13873)

1932, Sept 26, 19:20:42 UTC. Definite tsunami (reference #11164, v.2)

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
Ierissos, Chalkidiki	Greece	11	2	200	Eyewitness observation of water height
Porto Lago	Greece	117			Eyewitness observation of water height

Every tsunami in 1932 The 1900s Tsunamis of Greece 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 1655.