June 20, 76 Tsunami: Levantian Sea, Cyprus

76 (or 77). Levantian Sea, Island of Cyprus. A destructive earthquake. According to not very reliable data it was noted that the earthquake was accompanied by tsunami waves which were seen mostly on the south-western, southern and south-eastern coasts of the island: in Kition, Paphos, Salamis (Ref #2130).

76 A.D. Cyprus, Kition, Paphos and Salamis. Doubtful event based solely on a misinterpretation by Oberhummer of an allegorical statement in the Sibylline Oracles. Correct translation of Greek text indicates storm sea-waves, not

uncommon in Cyprus. Contemporary and later writers do not mention seismic sea-wave in 76 A.D. (reference #15)

76 A.D. Cyprus, Kition, Paphos and Salamis. (reference #20)

76 A.D. Cyprus, Cition, Paphos and Salamis. A disastrous earthquake occurred in Cyprus in 76 or 77 AD. This earthquake is generally dated together with a pestilence in

Rome, in 77 AD, but early chroniclers differ in it slightly. We are inclined to think rather of 76 AD as the year for this earthquake because this was the year at which the Romans transferred their mint to Cyprus and the first coins minted there are dated July 76, August 77 and September 78. It is not improbable that this transfer of the mint was connected with the measures taken to relieve the island after the earthquake which is generally dated 767 AD but may have taken place a year earlier. Some few early chroniclers may have put the earthquake in 77 AD in order to synchronise it with the pestilence in Rome.

The facts about the particular places in Cyprus which were destroyed by this earthquake and the seismic sea-wave which is supposed to have accompanied this earthquake, are very obscure.

If we trust the allusion in the Sibyllina Oracula, the places in Cyprus which suffered most should have been Salamis, Paphos and Cition, but it is questionable whether these places suffered from the 76 AD earthquake or from a later shock. It seams probable, from the slight indications,

mostly inferences from statements at a later date, that,

with the possible exception of Cition, Salamis and Paphos should lave been damaged to some extent by the 76 AD earthquake. The chroniclers were evidently not quite certain of the particular places in Cyprus which were damaged by this earthquake.

The Sibyllina Oracula prophesies also a destructive seismic seawave. This prophesy constitutes the sole authority upon which Oberhummer and after him many authors have based their arguments for the 76 AD seismic sea-wave in Cyprus. But we find no mention of such an event in the narrations of early chroniclers, and we feel that should an event such as a catastrophic seismic sea-wave had in fact accompanied this earthquake, it should have been most certainly included by these chroniclers in their description of the seismic events of 76 AD.

Whether, in this instance, the Sibyllina Oracula can be trusted as a source of authentic historical information, and if so, whether the seismic sea-wave in Cyprus which is mentioned in the text refers to the earthquake of 76 AD, all yet remains to be investigated. No other data worthy of any confidence has come to our attention.

(above from reference #23)

It is probably that the earthquake [76 AD] was associated with a seismic sea wave at Salamis and Paphos but it is not certain whether this was the result of this or of another earthquake. (reference #9116)