October 6, 1944 Tsunami: Edremit Gulf, Aegean Sea, Turkey

Name: October 6, 1944 Tsunami: Edremit Gulf, Aegean Sea, Turkey
Start: 1944-10-06
Location: Edremit Gulf, Aegean Sea, Turkey

October 6, 1944 · 30 deaths · 5,500 houses destroyed · Probable tsunami

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6.7 earthquake began at Edremit Gulf, Aegean Sea, Turkey on October 6, 1944 at 02:34:47 UTC. Its effects were recorded at 1 place. It killed 30 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: October 6, 1944, 02:34:47 UTC
Source: Edremit Gulf, Aegean Sea, Turkey
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: Magnitude 6.7
Runups recorded: 1
Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura): 2
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Probable tsunami
Source location: 39.509° N, 26.587° E

The toll

Deaths: 30 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: 5,500 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.

1944 Oct 06, 02:34:48.7 UTC, Tsunami intensity 1, Tsunami reliability 4. Numerous surface cracks and water gushes reported; coastal neighborhoods of the town of Ayvalik were flooded; inundation distance was 200 m in Ayvalik. (reference #9275)

1944 Oct 06, 02:34 UTC, Tsunami intensity 2, Tsunami reliability 3. (reference #11164)

Coastal neighborhoods in Ayvalik were flooded (Aksam, October 6, 1944; Ayvalik, October 12, 1944). Waves flooded the quarters of Hayrettinpasa and Vehbibey where 90% of the houses had been collapsed during the earthquake (Cumhuriyet, October 7, 1944). Aboard the ships ‘‘Ege’’ and ‘‘Kades’’ anchored offshore the small harbor of Ayvalik the passengers felt the shock strongly and have been affected (Yeni Sabah, October 8, 1944; Cumhuriyet, October 7, 1944) [...] The source of 1944 tsunami should be defined by the sea bottom changes occurred during the earthquake. Two most crucial geological findings for this historical earthquake are the effects of the fault rupture on the coastal line as well as the vertical offsets observed on the sea bottom extended along the main fault [...] The tsunami waves observed in the town of Ayvalik, which is 23 km far from the main through of the Gulf of Edremit, may also be caused by the vertical movement of the southern block during the main shock (reference #9640)

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
Ayvalik	Turkey	23		200	Eyewitness observation of water height

Every tsunami in 1944 The 1900s Tsunamis of Turkey 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 5818.