July 23, 1949 Tsunami: Chios Island, Aegean Islands, Greece

On 1949, July 23. A destructive earthquake occurred in the north of Island of Chios, on the Islands of Inousses and in the north of the adjacent Cegme Peninsula in Asia Minor. Receding of the sea was noticed on the shore near Marmaro and was followed by numerous oscillations of the sea - level with a period of 10-15 min and approximately 50-70 cm high which lasted for about 2 hours. Likely tsunami. (reference #2130)

1949, July 23, 15:03:30 UTC, 38o35'N, 26o14'E, magnitude 6.7, tsunami validity 3, runup height 2 m. (reference #2427)

1949, July 23, 15:03:30 UTC, 38o36'N, 26o18'E, magnitude 6.7. Earthquake in the northern part of Chios Island. Strong wave at Chios. Questionable tsunami. (reference #4139)

1949, July 23. After the earthquake a sea wave (tsunami) occurred. It reached 2 m high and flooded the beach. The sea wave had a height of 70cm in Marmaro. (reference #4408)

The earthquake was accompanied by a small tsunami in northern Chios and the nearby island of Oinousses, with additional wave activity reported in Cesme and on the Karaburun Peninsula (Fig. 1). (reference #12761)

1949 July 23, East Aegean. Definite tsunami. (reference #11164)

Some unusual events occurred during the earthquake. In Cesme, 5 km away in the direction of Cape Yildiz, grey coloured water gushed out of the sea, the height of the jet being up to 15m (Aksam, 25 July 1949; Hurriyet, 25 July 1949; Son Posta, 25 July 1949; Vatan 25 July 1949). The flow of the water network increased for the next 3-4 h. The sea between Chios and Cesme turned red in colour and became turbid for a few hours. Hot natural springs disappeared in Karaburun, re-emerging later in different locations. The sea attacked the coasts of Cesme town, leaving many dead fish behind after it subsided. Fishermen are reported to have described flames spurting out of the sea surface (Cumhuriyet, 24 July 1949). In Chios the runup was about 2m high and the sea waves flooded the beach (Papazachos and Papazachou, 1997). (reference #4676)

Tsunamis observed during 1881 and 1949 events cannot be directly associated with the coastal landslides along the steep shores of Chios Island and the Karaburun Peninsula. But it is believed that the aforementioned causative faults and some accompanying underwater failures are the main reasons of these tsunamis. They were not as dangerous as the ones in oceans but caused some destruction making a further investigation of the tsunamis in the region necessary. (reference #13873)