Catalogue of Tsunamis in the Eastern Mediterranean from Antiquity to Present Times

This paper presents a systematic compilation of all data pertainingto tsunamis observed or recorded in the Eastern Mediterranean fromantiquity to present times (1500 b.C. to 1980 a.D.). The first cataloguehas been published by Prof. N.N. Ambraseys in the "Bulletin of theSeismological Society of America" (Vol. 52, No 4, October 1962) and thishas formed the skeleton of this paper. All of the available informationhas been compiled from historical accounts, newspaper archives, otherreports, and recent mareographic data. The earthquake data have beenextracted from the Seismological Institute of Athens and relative bibliography.Most of the events listed are associated with earthquakes, butsome are the result of volcanic activity . Many of the tsunamis havebeen generated along the coast of Greece, Albania, South Yugoslavia,Turkey, Syria and Israel. There is little doubt that the large conjugatefault system along, the west coast of Greece, Crete and Rodos till thesouth coast of Turkey is often responsible for the earthquakes in thisarea and most of tsunamis in the Eastern Mediterranean.