Tsunamis in 1935

January 4, 1935 Tsunami: Marmara Sea, Turkey

January 4, 1935 · 5 deaths · Probable tsunami

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake and a landslide began at Marmara Sea, Turkey on January 4, 1935 at 14:41:30 UTC. It killed 5 people, counting the earthquake or eruption that caused it.

Where the waves reached

The source of the tsunami. No runup with a place is recorded for it.

  • 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

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
January 4, 1935, 14:41:30 UTC
Source
Marmara Sea, Turkey
Cause
Earthquake and landslide
Runups recorded
0
Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
2
Waters
Ocean
How certain
Probable tsunami
Source location
40.620° N, 27.451° E

The toll

Deaths
5 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Injuries
30 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Damage
Severe (about $5 to $25 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Houses destroyed
Very many (over 1,000) 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.

The earthquake caused rocks fall into the sea and three sides of the island were submerged. It is possible that the event may have produced some sea waves in and around Marmara Islands. (reference #10331)

1935 Jan 04. Tsunami intensity 2-3, Tsunami reliability 4 (definite). The Hayirsiz Island collapsed on three sides causing a local tsunami (reference #9275)

More

Every tsunami in 1935The 1900sTsunamis of TurkeyThe earthquakeThis 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 5820.