1693-01-11 tsunami – ISLAND OF SICILY: Historical Tsunami Record and Measurements

On January 11, 1693, a destructive tsunami struck the island of Sicily, preceded and triggered by a major earthquake. According to the historical data recorded in the NOAA/NCEI Global Historical Tsunami Database, the event is associated with an earthquake and has a validity classification of 4, indicating a definite tsunami occurrence.

Event Timeline and Location

The associated earthquake struck at 13:30 UTC (1:30 PM) on January 11, 1693 CE. The event's epicenter and geographic coordinates were centered at latitude 37.133 and longitude 15.017 on the island of Sicily, Italy.

Measurements and Impacts

The tsunami generated a recorded maximum water height of 12.0 meters. The triggering earthquake reached a magnitude of 7.4. The combined disaster resulted in a total of 54,000 deaths.

Image credits

Sources and further context

Official datasets support the event-specific facts.