April 5, 2000 Tsunami: Crete, Greece
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 5.5 earthquake and a landslide began at Crete, Greece on April 5, 2000 at 04:36:59 UTC. The water rose as high as 0.5 meters. Its effects were recorded at 1 place.
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
The tsunami
- Date
- April 5, 2000, 04:36:59 UTC
- Source
- Crete, Greece
- Cause
- Earthquake and landslide
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 5.5, 38 km deep
- Maximum water height
- 0.5 m (1.6 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 34.220° N, 25.690° E
The toll
The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this tsunami.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Reference #11164:
Cause: earthquake marine slide - when the earthquake triggered a submarine slide. Event reliability = 4 (definite).
Probably the tsunami was caused by a small-scale submarine slide induced by the seismic ground motion. Kopf et al. (2007) reported on free-fall CPT measurements for submarine landslide characterization in the western Cretan Sea and were able to conclude that the area off ENE Heraklion is prone to landslides due to earthquake activity.
Reference #2427:
Sea oscillation in Heraklion.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heraklion (Iraklion), Crete | Greece | 133 | 0.5 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 2000The 2000sTsunamis of GreeceThe 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 2922.