426 BC Malian Gulf tsunami

426 BC Malian Gulf tsunami
426 BC Malian Gulf tsunami is located in Greece
426 BC Malian Gulf tsunami
Local date426 BC
MagnitudeUnknown
Epicenter38°52′N 22°37′E / 38.87°N 22.62°E / 38.87; 22.62
Areas affectedAncient Greece
TsunamiYes
CasualtiesUnknown

The 426 BC Malian Gulf tsunami devastated the coasts of the Malian and Euboean Gulfs, Greece, in the summer of 426 BC.[1][2] Thucydides inquired into its causes, and concluded that the tsunami must have been caused by an earthquake.[3] He was thus historically the first known to correctly interpret the cause of a tsunami as a preceding geological event.[4] Herodotus, in contrast, had attributed the Potidaea tsunami to the divine wrath of Poseidon.[5]

  1. ^ Antonopoulos 1992, pp. 83–93
  2. ^ "Malian Gulf, Greece Tsunami". prezi.com. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  3. ^ Thucydides: "A History of the Peloponnesian War", 3.89.2–5
  4. ^ Smid 1970, pp. 103f.
  5. ^ Herodotus: "The Histories", 8.129