September 3, 1968 Tsunami: Black Sea, Turkey
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6.6 earthquake began at Black Sea, Turkey on September 3, 1968 at 08:19:52 UTC. The water rose as high as 3 meters. Its effects were recorded at 2 places. It killed 24 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
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
- September 3, 1968, 08:19:52 UTC
- Source
- Black Sea, Turkey
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 6.6, 38 km deep
- Maximum water height
- 3 m (9.8 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 2
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 41.800° N, 32.300° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 24 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Injuries
- 200 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
- 2,000 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.
At Amasra, water in the Big Port first drew back 1.5 meters leaving fish jumping on dry land, and then rose 3 meters. Huge landslides and rockfalls were observed along a 9-mile stretch of the coast of Big Port. A lake was created by landslide action at Cakraz, where the sea receded about 12-15 meters and never returned entirely to its original level. (reference #45)
The earthquake generated a wave disturbance on the coast of the Black Sea near Amasra town. In the Big Port of Amasra the water first withdrew about 1.5 m. Fish were jumping on the beach. Then the water level rose 3 m coming up to the houses at the coast and taking the boats near coffee houses. There was approximatly 25 cm subsidence measured at the landing port for loading the submarines. At Çakraz the sea receded 12 to 15 m from its original shoreline at the onset of the quake and never returned to its level. (reference #4139)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amasra | Turkey | 11 | 3 | 100 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||
| Cakraz | Turkey | 15 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1968The 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 3297.