May 19, 1933 Tsunami: Gold Coast, Togo

1933, May 19 [or May 29, 1935, listed in the text as May 19, 1933 and May 29, 1935 in the table]. Atlantic Ocean. This is a relatively large magnitude offshore earthquake which was registered on the tide gauge at Lome. (reference #1214)

1933, May 19. ... At Accra, a town of approximately 77,000 people, 16 persons were killed and 133 were injured by the earthquake, which caused great alarm to Africans and Europeans alike. It was accompanied by a loud and sustained rumbling and by a violent shaking of the ground which lasted for fully 10 seconds. Many of those indoors,

particularly those upstairs in two-storey buildings, found it very difficult to walk, and children and invalids were knocked over. The majority of people who were indoors at the time ran outside but some Africans not knowing what was happening rushed indoors. The sea is said to have become rough and fishermen at Labadi and Teshi, who were in their canoes at the time, say that their canoes shivered and that they lost control of them for a time. Fortunately, none of the canoes was overturned. These fishermen say that immediately before the earthquake a light flashed across the sky and dropped into the sea. Other observers mentioned the occurrence of lightning and shooting stars (meteorites).

For a short period after, the main shock a faint smell was noticeable. It was described by one observer as a stale marshy smell and by another as a slightly sulphurous smell. This was probably caused by the discharge into the atmosphere of sulphuretted hydrogen from the mud in the lagoons near Accra...

Reliable evidence obtained from fishermen at sea at the time of the earthquake is not abundant, owing chiefly to the time at which the earthquake occurred. It appears, however, that the sea was not disturbed noticeably along most af the coast. Between Accra and Fete it was reported that canoes were shaken, the fishermen comparing the shake with the shivering of a very cold person. The sea

remained calm. Further east, however, at Labadi and Teshi, the sea is said to have become rough and to have roared loudly for a few minutes. Fishermen were alarmed and cried out for help. The bump of the earthquake waves was felt on a few passenger and cargo ships at sea or in pont, but no

damage was done. The waters of the Sakumo and Kako lagoons are said to have been thrown up, to fall again with a splash, while water spurted from the sand vents as from a fountain. (reference #1077)