227 BC Tsunami: Dodecanese Islands, Greece

Name: 227 BC Tsunami: Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Location: Dodecanese Islands, Greece

227 BC · Deaths: few · Questionable tsunami

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake began at Dodecanese Islands, Greece in 227 BC. 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

Tsunami warnings in force

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: 227 BC
Source: Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: Magnitude 7.2
Runups recorded: 1
Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura): 3
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Questionable tsunami
Source location: 36.300° N, 28.300° E

The toll

Deaths: Few (about 1 to 50) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Damage: Limited (under about $1 million)
Houses destroyed: Few (about 1 to 50) 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.

227 B.C. Dodecanese Islands, 36 deg 18 min N, 28 deg 18 min E, earthquake intensity X, magnitude 7.2. Strong earthquake in Caria, Licia and the island of Rhodes. The colossus of Rhodes destroyed. The fortress, the wharf and many ships destroyed. Possibly a tsunami. (reference #4139)

220 (possibly, 222 or 227) B.C. Aegean Sea, Island of Rhodes, 36 N, 28 E, earthquake magnitude 7.2 and intensity X, tsunami intensity iii. A strong earthquake destroyed the lighthouse - statue of Colossus of Rhodes, the fortress and the landing pier. Presumably, tsunami waves originated that could have been observed on the northern shore of the islands of Rhodes and Tilos; many ships were destroyed. (reference #2130)

220 B.C. - Dodecanese (Rhodes), 36.5 N, 28 E. A great shock on Rhodes Island, with a large meizoseismal area, destroyed the famous Colossus of Rhodes, the fortress, the wharf and - possibly with the association of a seismic sea wave - many ships. (reference #109)

227 B.C. Rhodos, 36.5 N, 28.2 E, magnitude 7.2. (reference #330)

227 B.C. Dodecanese Islands, 36 deg 30 min N, 27 deg 48 min E, earthquake magnitude 7.5 and intensity IX, sea wave in Rhodes. (reference #2427)

Reliability = 1 (improbable tsunami). Sieberg (1932) stated that a seismic-sea wave was associated with the earthquake but this is not justified by the available historical documentation. (reference #2840)

Classic authors reported on an earthquake occurring -227 BC, very likely between 226 and 229 BC. The earthquake isolated Rhodes causing collapse of the city walls and shipyards as well as of the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the seven wonders of antiquity. An inscription dated in the 3rd century BC or later says that the earthquake killed people. The damage was possibly extended in SW Asia Minor (modern Turkey) provinces. No tsunami was reported […] We suggest that the large 227 BC earthquake had its source close to Rhodes, very likely in the shallow water domain, which may explain the non-tsunamigenic nature of the event. (reference #13796)

227 B.C. Improbable tsunami. Sieberg (1932) and Galanopoulos (1960a) stated that a seismic-sea wave was associated with the earthquake but this is not justified by the available historical documentation. (reference #11164)

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
Island of Rhodes	Greece	31			Eyewitness observation of water height

Every tsunami in 227 BC The 200s BC Tsunamis of Greece The earthquake Alerts 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 3092.