July 19, 2017 Tsunami: Off the Coast near Santa Marta, Colombia

Ref #11857:

A community of the Caribbean coast near Santa Marta, reported that around 8:00 am, an unusual rise in sea level that generated flooding in different parts of the coast. Thanks to the continuous monitoring carried out by the General Maritime Directorate, oceanographic and atmospheric conditions on the Colombian coasts, it was possible to study in a preliminary way the origin of this unusual event, as follows:

-According to the report of the mareographic station of the General Maritime Directorate, located at the dock of the Coast Guard station in Santa Marta, around 8:20 am, a sea level disturbance was recorded in a range of ~50 cm

-This phenomenon was not due to astronomical causes that generate the tide or meteorological

-Due to the period of the disturbance, it is likely that this corresponds to a small wave, which has no origin in a seismic event, wave may have been caused by a landslide to the ocean; to be investigated by the Colombian Maritime Authority in the coming days

-This same event was registered at 9:00 am, with a lower intensity, by another tide gauge installed at the station located in Ballenas (La Guajira)

Ref #11855:

Witnesses said that the sea "went back 50 meters and returned with a gigantic wave", followed by other smaller ones […] inhabitants of Tasajera, Pueblo Viejo and the coastal area of Cienaga thought that on Wednesday morning "the end of the world had come". A gigantic wave accompanied by a strange noise trapped them. Their houses were flooded as well as the streets. They assumed they had been caught in an unexpected swell, but within a few hours they learned they had been hit by "a small tsunami wave".

Witnesses report that at about 8:20 am, they saw strange behavior from the sea as it came and eventually returned with force bringing a wave of more than 6 meters. Some ran with their children, while the sea pursued them. Others remained motionless being bathed by the stream of salt water.

Ref #11856:

The General Maritime Directorate reported that it is "probable" that the recorded situation “corresponds to a small tsunami wave, which does not originate in a seismic event, so this wave may have been caused by a landslide to the ocean, a fact that will be investigated by the Colombian Maritime Authority in the next few days.”

Ref #11901:

On Wednesday, July 19 around 08:20 hours, the Research Center Oceanographic and hydrographic surveys of the Caribbean received information on a lowering of sea level in Santa Marta, it was also reported that the aquarium emptied and then flooded.

Taking into account the characteristics of the wave, this corresponded to a tsunami and discarded the two mentioned sources (geological and meteorological), the hypothesis was considered of a slip in the seabed as the source of the event.

The following areas reported affects from the event the city of Santa Marta, the aquarium of Santa Marta, Carretera Santa Marta - Barranquilla and Pueblo Viejo Magdalena.

Ref #12105:

In the Colombian Caribbean, a tsunami event caused by underwater landslide on July 19, 2017, in the morning, affecting coastal areas and populations in the Caribbean, between Santa Marta and Barranquilla. The event was reported by the community and registered by gauge stations of the General Maritime Directorate (DIMAR) located in Santa Marta, Magdalena.

Ref #14063:

Due to the absence of any detection of seismic activity or recent landslide deposits (Cap. Julio Monroy, personal communication, July 2023), coupled with the findings presented in this study, it is most likely that the event of July 2017 was not landslide-induced. Instead, the results provide evidence that the flooding that affected Santa Marta and neighbouring areas was triggered by the influence of an atmospheric disturbance that produced a meteotsunami.