April 551 Tsunami: Etolia, Greece

551, April. Corinthos-Patras Gulf. 38o24' N, 22o18' E. Earthquake magnitude 7.1, tsunami intensity 4, reliability 4. Strong earthquake affecting Thessaly, the Maliakos Gulf and the Corinthiakos Gulf. The towns of Chaeronaea, Koronaea, Patras, Nauptaktos severely damaged. In the gulf between Thessaly and Boeotia there was a sudden influx of the sea at the city called Echinus and at Scarphe. The sea water advanced far over the land deluging the towns and leveling them immediately. For a long time the mainland was flooded. Then the sea returned to its proper place leaving many fishes on the ground (Procopius, reference #10840). (reference #4139)

551 (possibly 552), spring or July 7. Aegean Sea, eastern Greece, Strait of Euboea (between the Island of Euboea and the continent. The destructive earthquake embraced both coasts of the Gulf of Corinth. In the pleistoseismal zone, the earth opened and closed again, but part of the deformation of Earth's surface was conserved including an upthrust system along the northern shore of the Gulf of Corinth. Patras, Nafpaktos, Corinth, Chaeronea and other towns were destroyed. There were thousands of victims, including 4,000 people in Patras. (Note: attributed to 7 July 551 event )The same area as during the earthquakes on October 12, 1856, and on August 1, 1860, was shaken. In the apex of the Gulf of Maliacus, the sea suddenly rushed up the dry land and reached far inland destroying buildings in Echinos, Tarfi and in Boeotia. According to other sources the tsunami started with the drop in water level. After the water went away, fish, including rare specimens, were left stranded. The low water lasted so long that citizens had time to reach the islands located in the apex of the bay.(reference #2130).

551, April. definite tsunami (reference #11164)

Reference #13667 dates earthquake events in on May or June AD 552, but states the earthquake dating issue remains open to some extent. Also states: “The Procopius’ story about the destructive tsunami that inundated Maliac Bay, northern Evoikos Gulf, is not convincing at all, very likely being a fake, just a mimic of the one of 426 BC. At all evidence, Procopius’ narration is an amalgamation of real contemporary earthquake events, of exaggerated earthquake effects, and of fake “events,” the last being only mimises of classic authors. Although Procopius reported that eight cities were hit, he named only Chaeronea-Coronea in Boeotia and Patras-Naupactus in the eastern and western Corinth Gulf, respectively. In view of the reliability issue regarding the Procopius’ narration, presented in a previous section, our preferred scenario includes two separate strong earthquakes but without tsunami generation.”

Note: See 552 May event as this event is likely a duplicate listing with different date interpretations.