November 326 BC Tsunami: Kutch, India

The oldest record of tsunami is available from November 326 BC earthquake near the Indus delta Kutch region that set off massive sea waves in the Arabian Sea. Alexander the Great was returning to Greece after his conquest and wanted to go back by a sea route. But a tsunami due to an earthquake of large magnitude destroyed the mighty Macedonian fleet. (ref #2771)

326 B.C. November. Off Karachi, Arabian Sea. (ref #1212)

The oldest record of tsunami is available from November 326 BC earthquake near the Indus delta Kutch region. Alexander the Great was returning to Greece after his conquest and wanted to go back by a sea route. But a tsunami due to an earthquake of large magnitude destroyed the mighty Macedonian fleet (ref #9159). (ref #8776)

The source quoted by Murty and Bapat (1999) (ref #8776) for this tsunami in 326 BC is Lisitzin (1974)(ref #9159). We re-examined Lisitzin (1974) and the actual entry for this event reads: ‘‘World famous strategists were also unable to escape it [the tide! – our italics]. Various historical authors have mentioned the amazement of Alexander the Great and his army, when during the illustrious campaign to India in 325BC they experienced for the first time in their lives sea – level variations caused by tide and noted the disastrous consequences of this phenomenon on the Macedonian fleet, anchored in the estuary of the River Indus’’ (Lisitzin 1974, pp. 259–260). Here, quite clearly Lisitzin is discussing the effects of the tide on the Macedonian fleet. Tidal variations would have been unusual to Alexander the Great because of the enclosed nature of his familiar Aegean Sea where tidal variation is highly restricted. It is therefore, incorrect to interpret this event as a tsunami. (ref #2725)

Dominey-Howes et al. (2006) (ref #2725) have stated that tidal variations would have been unusual to Alexander the Great because of the enclosed nature of his familiar Aegean Sea where tidal variation is highly restricted. Thus, they concluded that it is incorrect to interpret the event of 326 BC as a tsunami. Nonetheless, we believe that normal ocean tides do not have sufficient power to destroy a military fleet. In addition, Dominey-Howes et al. (2006) have referred to only one document (Lisitzin, 1974), which is not a primary source. To address such an ancient event, more archival research should be done and, if possible, primary sources must be evaluated. Therefore, it seems too early to qualify the event of 326 BC as a non-tsunami event. The following historical account, which narrates the Alexander’s military expedition to western India, supports our interpretation of the 326 BC event as a tsunami: "About dawn they put out to sea, and were met by so violent ebb that three of the ships ran ashore and were held hard and fast on dry land, and the rest only just sailed through the surf and got safe into deep water. The ships, however, which ran aground, were floated off when next flood came, and arrived next day where the main fleet was[...]" (Robson, 1933). (ref #12789)

[...] based on the historical narrative in Arrian’s “Indice”, it can be reasonably concluded that the degree of reported damage which occurred to Alexander the Great’s fleet , which was located in the vicinity of the River Cab estuary at the time , was not caused by storm waves of monsoon winds, but from tsunami waves similar to those generated by the 1945 earthquake or by other previous earthquakes in the eastern MSZ region of the North Arabian Sea [...] However, it is possible that an earthquake further South in the Guajarat region could have triggered an underwater landslide and a local tsunami, which perhaps could have affected the Greek fleet in 326 BC [...] Based on the ancient records and current geophysical knowledge, it is believed that a 326 BC earthquake occurred in late October or early November. (ref #13396)