Natural Hazards and Earth System Science www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net 1561-8633 1684-9981 7 1 2007 10.5194/nhess-7-57-2007 http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/7/57/2007/ http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/7/57/2007/nhess-7-57-2007.html http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/7/57/2007/nhess-7-57-2007.pdf 57 64 2007-01-16 Tsunami hazards in the Eastern Mediterranean: strong earthquakes and tsunamis in the East Hellenic Arc and Trench system G. A. Papadopoulos g.papad@gein.noa.gr E. Daskalaki A. Fokaefs N. Giraleas Institute of Geodynamics, National Observatory of Athens, 11810 Athens, Greece Data on tsunami phenomena occurring in the East Hellenic Arc and Trench system (HA-T) from antiquity up to the present have been updated, critically evaluated and compiled in the standard GITEC format developed in the last decade for the New European Tsunami Catalogue. New field observations are presented for the tsunamis of 9 February 1948 and 24 March 2002. From the 18 tsunamis reported eight are rather well-documented while another nine remain doubtful. The mean recurrence of strong tsunamis is likely equal to about 142 years. Most of the tsunamis documented are caused by strong earthquakes occurring in the area offshore Rhodes to the east or northeast of the island. However, there are large earthquakes near Rhodes that do not cause tsunamis, like the 1926 and 1957 ones, which is of particular importance for the tsunami hazard assessment. Ambraseys, N. N.: Data for the investigation of the seismic sea-waves in the Eastern Mediterranean, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 52, 895–913, 1962. Ambraseys, N. N.: Engineering Seismology, Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, 17, 1–105, 1988. Ambraseys, N. N. and Finkel, C .F.: The Seismicity of Turkey and Adjacent Areas, A Historical Review, 1500–1800, EREN Ltd, Istanbul, pp 240, 1995. Ambraseys, N. N., Melville, C. P., and Adams, R. D.: The Seismicity of Egypt, Arabia and the Red Sea, Cambridge University Press, pp 172, 1994. Amiran, D. H. K., Arieh, E., and Turcotte, T.: Earthquakes in Israel and Adjacent Areas: Macroseismic observations since 100 B.C.E, Israel Exploration Journal, 260–306, 1994. Antonopoulos, J.: Data from investigation on seismic sea-waves events in the Eastern Mediterranean from the birth of Christ to 1980 AD (6 parts), Annali di Geofisica, 33, 141–248, 1980. Baratta, M.: Leonardo da Vinci ed i problemi della terra, Biblioteca Vinciana, Nr 1, pp 29, 292-3, Ed. Bocca, Torino, 1903. Ben-Menahem, A.: Earthquake catalogue for the Middle East (92 B.C.–1980 A.D.), Bollettino di Geofisica Teorica ed Applicata, XXI, pp 244–313, 1979. Chatzivasileiou, V.: The catastrophic earthquakes of Ko from antiquity until today, Dodekanisiaka Chronika, H, Athens, pp 270, 1989. Coronelli, P. and Parisotti, V.: Isola di Rodi geografica, storica, antica e moderna, Venezia, 1688. Dionysiou, D. D. and Papadopoulos, G. A.: Poissonian and negative binomial modelling of earthquake time series in the Aegean area, Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 71, 154–165, 1992. Evagelatou-Notara, F.: Earthquakes in Byzantium from 13$^th$ to 15$^th$ century – A historical examination, Parousia, Athens, 24, 1–179 (in Greek with Engl. summary), 1993. Fokaefs, A. and Papadopoulos, G. A.: Tsunami Hazard in the Eastern Mediterranean: Strong Earthquakes and Tsunamis in Cyprus and the Levantine Sea, Nat. Hazards, doi:10.1007/51169-006-9011-3 (http://dx.doi.org), 2006. Galanopoulos, A. G.: The Seismic Geography of Greece, Ann. Geol. Pays Hellen., 6, 83–121 (in Greek), 1955. Galanopoulos, A. G.: The seismic sea wave of July 9, 1956, Prakt. Acad. Athens, 32, 90–101, 1957. Galanopoulos, A. G.: Tsunamis observed on the coasts of Greece from Antiquity to present time, Annali di Geofisica, 13, 369–386, 1960. Guidoboni, E. and Comastri, A.: The large earthquake of 8 August 1303 in Crete: seismic scenario and tsunami in the Mediterranean area, J. Seismol., 1, 55–72, 1997. Guidoboni, E., Comastri, A., and Traina, G.: Catalogue of ancient earthquakes in the Mediterranean area up to the 10$^th$ century, Pub. Ist. Nazion. Geofisica, Rome, 1994. Makri, F.: Repatriation of a Karpathian, Rhodes, pp 79, 1999. Minoura, K., Imamura, F., Kuran, U., Nakamura, T., Papadopoulos, G. A., Takahasi, T., and Yalciner, A. C.: Discovery of Minoan tsunami deposits, Geology, 28, 59–62, 2000 Montandon: Les tremblements de terre destructeurs en Europe, Catalogue par territoirs seismique, de l' an 1000 à 1940, Geneve, pp 195, 1953. Papachristodoulou, X. I.: A History of Rhodes, Municipality of Rhodes-Sereis of Independent Publications, No 1, Athens, pp 752, 1994. Papadopoulos, G. A.: Tsunamis in the East Mediterranean: a catalogue for the area of Greece and adjacent seas, Proc. Joint IOC-IUGG International Workshop, "Tsunami Risk Assessment beyond 2000: Theory, Practice and Plans", Moscow, Russia, 14–16 June 2000, Moscow, 2001. Papadopoulos, G. A.: Tsunami Hazard in the Eastern Mediterranean: strong earthquakes and tsunamis in the Corinth Gulf, Central Greece, Natural Hazards, 29, 437–464, 2003. Papadopoulos, G. A. and Chalkis, B.: Tsunamis observed in Greece and the surrounding area from antiquity up to the present times, Marine Geology, 56, 309–317, 1984. Papadopoulos, G. A. and Imamura, F.: A proposal for a new tsunami intensity scale, ITS 2001 Proc., Session 5, No 5-1, 569–577, 2001. Papadopoulos, G. A., Imamura, F., Minoura, K., Takahasi T., Kuran, U., and Yalciner, A. C.: Strong earthquake and tsunamis in the East Hellenic Arc, Geophys. Res. Abstr. 6, 03212, European Geosciences Union, 2004. Papazachos, B. C. and Papazachou, C. B.: The earthquakes of Greece, Ziti Edit., Thessaloniki, pp 304, 1997. Perissoratis, C. and Papadopoulos, G. A.: Sediment instability and slumping in the southern Aegean 734 Sea and the case history of the 1956 tsunami, Mar. Geol., 161, 287–305, 1999. Perrey, A.: Note sur les tremblements de terre en 1854, avec suppléments pour les années antérieures 1852–1853, Bull. Acad. R. Sci. Bruxelles, 22, pt I, 526–572, 1855. Schmidt, J.: Studien über Erdbeben, Leipzig, 1879. Sieberg, A.: Untersuchungen uber Bruchschollenban im östlichen Mittelmeergebiet, Denkschriften der Medizinish-Naturwissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft zu Jena, 2, Jena, 1932. Soloviev, S. L.: Tsunamigenic zones in the Mediterranean Sea, Natural Hazards, 3, 183–202, 1990. Soloviev, S. L., Solovieva, O. N., Go, C. N., Kim, K. S., and Shchetnikov, N. A.: Tsunamis in the Mediterranean Sea 2000 B.C.–2000 A.D., Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, 13, Kluwer Academic Publichers, London, 2000. Tinti, S. and Maramai, A.: Catalogue of tsunamis generated in Italy and in Cote d' Azur, France: a step towards a unified catalogue of tsunamis in Europe, Ann. di Geofisica, 39, 1253–1299, 1996. Vasiliou, P.: O aftografos "Thrinos tis Theotokou" tou Ioanni Plousiadinou, Ellinika-Publ. of the Society of Macedonian Studies, Thessaloniki, 32, 267–287 (in Greek), 1980. \vspace*2mm \textbfPress Reports \vspace*1mm Gnomi, 25 March 2002; Dimokratiki, 25 March 2002. \vspace*2mm \textbfHistorical sources \vspace*1mm Agathias, 11.16, 98–100; Aristides Aelius or Poplius, XIII, 340–374; Pausanias, VIII 2.7.1 and 43.3; Polyvios, V, 88–90.