AHEAD European Archive of Historical EArthquake DataEuropean Archive of Historical EArthquake Data

A unified catalogue containing 293 tsunamis generated in the European and Mediterranean seas since 6150 B.C. to current days is presented. It is the result of a systematic and detailed review of all the regional catalogues available in literature covering the study area, each of them having their own format and level of accuracy. The realization of a single catalogue covering a so wide area and involving several countries was a complex task that posed a series of challenges, being the standardization and the quality of the data the most demanding. A “reliability” value was used to rate equally the quality of the data for each event and this parameter was assigned based on the trustworthiness of the information related to the generating cause, the tsunami description accuracy and also on the availability of coeval bibliographical sources. Following these criteria we included in the catalogue events whose reliability ranges from 0 (“very improbable tsunami”) to 4 (“definite tsunami”). About 900 documentary sources, including historical documents, books, scientific reports, newspapers and previous catalogues, support the tsunami data and descriptions gathered in this catalogue. As a result, in the present paper a list of the 290 tsunamis with their main parameters is reported. The online version of the catalogue, available at http://roma2.rm.ingv.it/en/facilities/data_bases/52/catalogue_of_the_euro-mediterranean_tsunamis, provides additional information such as detailed descriptions, pictures, etc. and the complete list of bibliographical sources. Most of the included events have a high reliability value (3= “probable” and 4= “definite”) which makes the Euro-Mediterranean Tsunami Catalogue an essential tool for the implementation of tsunami hazard and risk assessment.

Earthquake data from Papazachos and Comninakis (1982). Strong earthquake at Patras. Felt at Zakyntos (St.Maura). Two severe shocks, followed by a third one at 3 a.m. On the two following days slight oscillations of 6 to 10 seconds were felt. The third shock overthrew many houses in the Morea, especially at Patras. The shock was preceded by a perfect calm, great heat and a terrible noise lasting two seconds (Mallet, 1854). The shock was followed by a tsunami. The ships in the harbour of Patras were violently agitated (Mallet, 1854). At Patras tsunami intensity III attributed by Antonopoulos (1980), quoting the Journal de Debats and the Moniteur Universel.