April 23, 1933 Tsunami: Cos, Dodecanese, Greece

Reference #12753:

A newspaper correspondence ("Patris," PA 1933) reported that an ebb happened in Kos port for a length of several tenths of meters. However, it becomes no clear whether it was a permanent sea level change or the sea returned to its initial position.

However, in Kos it is still a common belief among the local population and the mass media that a tsunami of 2-3 m in height affected the coastal zone of Kos city after this earthquake (e.g., https://www.youtube.com/watch ?v=K7ichtKDzcQ). However, this remains without documentation.

According to the testimony of an eyewitness, which is cited in the Album of Kos (Manousis1934), in Kos city "dark, wild and threatening sea waves run against the coast...". Such a description could be interpreted as an evidence of tsunami waves affecting the coastal zone. However, in the same publication another eyewitness said that "...the sea was cut through by a strong wind causing huge sea waves running like crazy horses with whirlwind speed...waves ready to attack the land swallowing up everything there." However,it is not clear whether the sea was already rough when the earthquake happened or became rough some time later. This point is better clarified in the account of the eyewitness Kasdaglis (1998) who clearly recollected that after the earthquake his family decided to stay outdoors and while was looking for a safe place to settle they observed that "the sea was gloomy, sibylline but not threatening." The same author added that during the evening the calm sea turned to rough. Having in mind that during the same evening heavy rain hit Kos (Manousis 1934; Kasdaglis 1998; various press reports) we concluded that: (1)in the morning of April 23, 1933, when the earthquake struck, the weather was calm, (2)bad weather conditions with strong winds, heavy rain and rough sea prevailed later by the end of the day and during the evening. Combining (1) and (2) we adopted that the sea waves observed very likely were due to strong wind rather than to tsunami triggered by the earthquake.

Reference #13999:

According to a newspaper report (PATRIS, 1933), an ebb happened along the coast of Kos port for a length of several tens of meters. The examination of this report, other documents, and eyewitness accounts showed that the rough sea that followed the earthquake was due rather to stormy weather than to tsunami waves. In a non-reviewed article of popular science, it has been supported that about 15–20 min after the earthquake, a tsunami of 2–3 m in height attacked the entire coastal zone of Kos city for an estimated length of 4–5 km. In the Marmari locality, the water inundated the coast and advanced 200 m inland. The same author added that local people collected dead fish left behind by the wave. However, the information published by has not been authenticated.