July 9, 1997 Tsunami: Cariaco-Cumana, Venezuela

Rodriguez (Reference #1692) reported that, although official tsunami data were not available, "some people from the FUNVISIS Seismology Department and other departments were in the region and received information about the sea level dropping or retiring along the coasts in the state of Sucre." Mercado (Reference #1683) reported an eyewitness observation of a wave coming ashore on the south coast of Tobago a few minutes after the earthquake.

The sea receded about 100 or 200 meters, according to eyewitness accounts, followed by a 1-meter-high wave that this time did not extend beyond the shoreline, as observed in Puerto Sucre and El Dique. (reference #14459) Note: date listed as 07 July 1997. Possible typographical error

Most eyewitnesses at Cumana first report a sea retreat, like for the 1997 earthquake. Testimonies […] were collected by the first author in the first few days following the July 9th, 1997 earthquake. Reports of sea oscillations inside the Cariaco Gulf during the 1997 event were also collected. This seems sound in case of the Cariaco 1997 earthquake because the earthquake epicenter was located farther east; more precisely, on the land bridge between the Cariaco and Paria gulfs [Baumbach et al. 2004], the latter gulf lying even farther to the east (Figure 2). The sea surface oscillations detected on western Cumana during this 1997 earthquake, on the contrary, are attributed to subaerial and submarine slides taking place at the river mouth banks and along the submarine Manzanares Canyon, respectively [Audemard and Leal 2014,2015], as attested by deep turbidite currents in the Cariaco Trough detected by Thunell et al. [1999] and Lorenzoni et al. [2012]. 1 meter max height (reference #12526)

Almost all along the coasts of the Cariaco Gulf, inhabitants of fisherman or seaside settlements reported that during the shaking the sea receded few tens (30 to 50) of meters and then came back rather smoothly to its original position, and eventually went farther beyond inland […] This initial seawater retreat may be explained if slip along the El Pilar fault during the Cariaco 1997 earthquake in combination with the relative position of the water body of the Cariaco Gulf with respect to the fault is taken into account. The water body is located mainly north of the fault and the fault moved dextrally, thus pulling the gulf seafloor towards the east and generating a water deficiency on the opposite side (to the west). The sea retreat was noticed very clearly west of San Antonio del Golfo […] Sea retreat during the Cariaco 1997 earthquake could not be imputed to the submarine slump west of Cumana´ because the effects should have been more local and not so widespread in the Cariaco Gulf.(reference #14477)