58 BC Tsunami: Albania

Name: 58 BC Tsunami: Albania
Location: Albania

58 BC · Questionable tsunami

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6.6 earthquake began at Albania in 58 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

The tsunami

Date: 58 BC
Source: Albania
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: Magnitude 6.6
Runups recorded: 1
Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura): 3
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Questionable tsunami
Source location: 41.300° N, 19.500° 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.

58 B.C. April. Dyrrachium. An earthquake may have occurred in Albania. This event, if genuine, happened during the consulship of Piso and Gabinus (58 BC) when Cicero was on his way to exile. He left Brindisi on 14 kalends of May (18th April) and, after a short crossing, when he was about to land at Dyrrachium, there was apparently an earthquake and the sea retired to a considerable distance from the shore.

There is no evidence that it caused any damage. The source for this earthquake, a first-century-AD Greek historian, includes this earthquake as a portent, since he goes on to say that contemporary soothsayers interpreted the phenomenon as a sign of a short exile. The letters which Cicero wrote to Atticus at the time, however, are silent about this event.

(above from reference #9116)

58 B.C. Albania. Sea rise at Durazzo. All sources mention the event in 58 B.C. Papadopoulos put the shock as occurred in 57 B.C. Earthquake in Dyrachion (Durazzo), Albania. Earthquake 41 deg 18 min N, 19 deg 30 min E, magnitude 6.6. (reference #4139)

58 B.C. Albanian coasts. Durazzo (Dyrrhachion). Tsunami intensity iii. (reference #15)

58 B.C. Albanian coasts. Durazzo (Dyrrhachion). Tsunami intensity ii. (reference #20)

58 B.C. Albania. Sea inundation. Earthquake 41 deg 18 min N, 19 deg 36 min E. Event validity 2. (reference #2427)

58 or 57 B.C. Adriatic Sea, Albania. Tsunami (intensity iii) in Durres. Event validity 2. Earthquake magnitude 6.6, 41.5N, 19.4E. (reference #2130)

57 B.C. Albania, Durazzo, tsunami intensity ii. Earthquake magnitude 6.6, 41.3 N, 19.5 E. (reference #330)

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
Durazzo	Albania	6			Eyewitness observation of water height

Every tsunami in 58 BC 99 to 1 BC Tsunamis of Albania 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 3714.