BSSA 97:3, Electronic Supplement to Salamon, et al

Electronic Supplement to
Tsunami Hazard evaluation to the Eastern Mediterranean: Historical Analysis and Selected Modeling

by Amos Salamon, Thomas Rockwell, Steven N. Ward, Emanuela Guidoboni, and Alberto Comastri

Tsunami scenarios

Figure 1	Tsunami from the Akhziv Canyon landslide scenario. Quarter-minute bathymetry is from Hall (1981). Numbers in the yellow circles show estimated average run-up height up to the indicated time of the frame. View movie in browser \| Download movie: haifa_mov.zip [Zipped Quicktime file; 3.1 MB]
Figure 2	Tsunami from the Cypriot Arc thrust scenario. Red colors are areas elevated relative to still water. Blue areas are lowered relative to still water. Numbers sample wave heights and depressions in meters. Numbers on the waveform panels are estimated average run-up. Two minutes bathymetry is from ETOPO2. View movie in browser \| Download movie: cyprus_mov.zip [Zipped Quicktime file; 2.3 MB]
Figure 3	Beirut Thrust earthquake scenario. Two minutes bathymetry is from ETOPO2. View movie in browser \| Download movie: beirut_small_mov.zip [Zipped Quicktime file; 1.5 MB]
Tech Note: The three movie files linked above may require Apple's free Quicktime software to view. Quicktime is included on all Apple Macintosh and many Microsoft Windows computers. If you need to install Quicktime software it can be downloaded from http://www.apple.com/quicktime/. Users of Linux or Unix operating systems may be able to play these movies using open source software such as Mplayer, Totem, or VLC.

Lists of tsunamis and earthquakes

Presented here is the data on which we based our integrated list of tsunamis and earthquakes along the Eastern Mediterranean coasts and the Dead Sea Transform (DST) system. Comments on the tsunamis and earthquakes included in our lists, as well as on those that were not included, are presented in Appendices 1 and 2, respectively. References and list of abbreviations for the citations used in the Tables and the Appendices are presented thereafter.

Table 1	Reliably reported tsunamis for the Eastern Mediterranean region
Table 2	Doubtful tsunamis reported for the Eastern Mediterranean
Table 3	Significant historical earthquakes possibly occurred along the DST system
Table 4	Remote earthquakes that generated tsunamis that arrived at the Eastern Mediterranean coasts
Table 5	Significant recorded earthquakes (20th century) that did not generate a tsunami or generated a tsunami that did not arrive to the Eastern Mediterranean coasts
Table 6	Seismic sea-waves in the Dead Sea, Sea of Galilee and Gulf of Aqaba

Appendices

Appendix 1	Comments on some selected tsunamis and earthquakes included in our list
Appendix 2	Comments on some selected tsunamis and earthquakes that were not included in our list

References

List of references

Reference abbreviations

Table 1

Reliably reported tsunamis that occurred in the Eastern Mediterranean region

Tsunami event

Affected Coasts ^{d, e}

Date ^a

Sources of data and short description ^b

Ar^c

Levant

Israel

Lebanon

SBT

1365±5 B.C.

AJM: “… The other half of the town was allegedly destroyed by a sea wave…”
Am3: Syrian coasts.

Ugarit
~~~

Mid 2^nd century B.C.

AW: 139 B.C., "… no evidence that this event was connected with an earthquake.”
Ka: Probably in 143/142 B.C. ”…between Tyre and Ptolemais in Phoenicia (Lebanese and Syrian coasts) a << wave from the ocean lifted itself to extraordinary height and dashed upon the shore engulfing all men and drowning them…>>. Shal: About -140.

~~~
↑

23±3 B.C.

Am3, An1: coasts between Alexandria and Pellusium. Shal: 20-24 B.C., Tsunami in the Sirbuni(?) area (Pellusium, Sabachat al-Bardawil). Tsunamigenic source is not known.

Alx Pel
~~~
↑

365 07 21

AMA, AJM, GCT. Major earthquake in the Hellenic Arc and tsunami in Alexandria, Peloponnesus, Adriatic and Sicilian coasts.

Alx ~~~

G,C ~~~

551 07 09

AMA: …Seismic sea wave on the coast of Phoenice. Am3: Syrian coast, Beirut. AAT: Tsunami at Lebanese coast. May have affected Caesarea. DSM. GCT: “… the sea retreated for a mile and many ships were destroyed.”

~~~ ↓↑

746 01 18

Am8, GTC, Ka: The primary sources do not mention where the tsunami occurred and the Dead Sea and Sea of Galilee should not be ruled out. Therefore, the location of the tsunami is only an interpretation. Here we assume that the tsunami occurred in the Mediterranean, opposite (more or less) the maximum damage zone and the possible surface rupture (Am8, MHH).

802 12 30 - 803 12 19

AE, Am3, An3: Massisa coasts, near Gulf of Iskendrun,(Turkey).

Isk ~~~

1033 12 05

(1034 01 04?)

AMA: Mediterranean coast of Palestine (Israel). Am3: Coasts of Lebanon and Israel. Acre.
AAT: 1034 01 04, The port of ‘Akko fell dry for an hour. Tsunami at Jaffa. GC: “… tsunami effects is confined to Acre… but it is reasonable to suppose that the tsunami affected the whole coast”. Shal: Could be duplicated from the 1068 event. SSG: Tidal waves observed in Gaza and Ashkelon. The seaport of Akko became dry for a long time, then it was half destroyed by a wave.

~~~

~~~
↓

1036 03 12 1037 03 11

GC: Cilicia, a region of southern Turkey facing the Gulf of Iskendrun, “…the vast Mediterranean sea billowed back and forth…”

Isk ~~~

1068 05 29

Am3: 1068 03 18, Coasts of Israel at Holotz Ashod (Ashdod sands?) and Yavneh. AAT: 1068 03 18, The sea receded the distance ‘of a day’s walk’. Strong tsunami observed at Yavne and Ashdod. BM: 1068 03 18, Tsunami at southern Israeli coasts. Sea receded and returned. AMA. GC. Shal: 1068 03 18. SSG: 1068 03 18.

~~
↓↑

~~~ ↓↑

1202 05 20

AB: … associated with a damaging sea wave. AM2. Am3: Syrian coasts, Cyprus, Egypt. AAT: Severe tsunami on Levant coast, serious damage at ‘Akko. GC: Gigantic waves rose up in the sea between Cyprus and the coast of Syria. Shal: Syrian coast and Akko. SSG: Near the coast of Syria… ships found themselves on dry ground… We interpret the extent of this tsunami to occur along the coast of historic Syria (present day , Lebanon and northern Israel) and opposite the high damage zone and surface rupture of this earthquake.

1222 05 11

AMA: …associated with a seismic sea wave.
Am3: Cyprus: Limasol and Paphos. GC. SSG: merged this tsunami with 1202.

~~~

1303 08 08

Major earthquake in the Hellenic Arc.AMA, GC: Tsunami in Crete, Acre and Alexandria. In Acre “The sea flooded the shore as far as the tower of Dayan…The sea flooded in almost as far as Tall al-Fudul; the sea off Acre receded about two parasangs (12.8km)…”. ERP.

M-L

Alx
~~~
↓↑

~~~ ↓↑

C
~~~
↓↑

1408 12 29

GC: “… a tsunami, perhaps in the stretch of sea opposite or to the south of Mt. Cassius [north of Laodicea (Latakia)]… The tsunami threw boats out of the sea on to the shore”

~~~

1546 01 14

AK. AMA: "..the sea withdrew from the coast of south Palestine and returned as a tsunami, which drawn many people." Am3, An5: From Gaza to Jaffa AAT: Tsunami on Mediterranean coasts from Jaffa to Gaza. At Jaffa the sea receded the distance ‘of a day’s walk’. A tidal wave in the Dead Sea. Shal: This is duplicated from the tsunami of 1068 03 18!

~~~ ↓↑

~~
↓↑

~~~ ↓↑

1759 10 30

AB: A seismic sea wave flooded Acre and the docks at Tripoli, but there was no apparent damage. Am3: Coasts of Israel and Lebanon. Acre (8’ (ft)). AAT: ‘At ‘Akko the sea rose’, flooding the streets to a height of 2-2.5 m. Shal.

S (-M?)

~~~
↑

~~~

1759 11 25

AB: A seismic sea wave associated with the earthquake was noted as far south as the Nile Delta, where the sea was discolored for many days, but it caused no damage there. In Acre, ships were thrown onto the shore, and there were some casualties

S (-M?)

Nile Delta ~~~

~~~
↑

1870 06 24

AMA: “In Alexandria … in the New Port area … the sea flooded the quay. The shock was felt on board ships in both the Old and New Ports…”. Am3: Alexandria. An6: Alexandria, Italian coasts. BM: Damage and tsunami in Alexandria. SSG: The water in the new port in Alexandria splashed out onto the quay.

Alx ~~~
↑

~~~

1872 04 03

Am4: “The sea rose after the earthquake, allegedly to a great height, flooding the coast”. Coasts of Kabusi, Jedida and Laushiya near Antakya ( Antioch).

Ant
~~~
↑

1908 12 28

Strong earthquake and a tsunami in Messina Straits, Italy. Am3: Egyptian coats. An7: Libyan sea, 90 miles north of Alexandria, Egyptian coasts.
SSG: There exists evidence that noticeable tsunami waves reached the shore of Libya and the western shore of Egypt where they were observed in the region of Alexandria.The only known tsunami to arrive from Italy.

Alx
~~~

1953 09 10

AE: South coasts of Turkey. SSG: “A series of tidal waves was noted on the Island of Cyprus. There was no damage.”

1956 07 09

Am1: Greek Archipelago. GG: Tsunami in Jaffa, amplitude 28cm, wave period 12-15 min., duration two days. Shal: “echo” of a tsunami in Haifa Bay. VD.

~~~

G
~~~

Number of Tsunamis

SBT

Isk

Since mid 2^nd century BC, for this coast

NC^f
6

NC^f
3

NC^f
2

NC^f

Since mid 2^nd century BC, for this country

Israel: 11

Leban: 6

Since mid 2^nd century BC, Levant, Gaza to

Levant: 13

^a Events are marked by time of occurrence, as detailed as known: year, month, day. ‘ººº’: The “reliable period” used for hazard evaluation, starts at about mid 2^nd century B.C.

^b Reference to sources are in bold letters, see list of reference abbreviations. Our comments and interpretation are in Italic letters.

^c Areal extent of the tsunami: L: occurred over a wide range or in several distant coasts along the Eastern Mediterranean; M: spread along several nearby coasts; S: limited to a few nearby coasts only.

^d Affected coasts along the Eastern Mediterranean are from south to north. Locality abbreviations and historical names: Ak- Akko, Acre, Ptolemais, in Israel; Al- Ashkelon, in Israel; Alx- Alexandria, in Egypt; AM- Asia Minor, in Turkey; Ant- Antakya (Antioch), in Turkey near the Syrian border; As- Ashdod, in Israel; Brt- Beirut, in Lebanon, C- Crete; Ca- Caesarea, in Israel; G- Greece, Ga- Gaza; Isk- Iskenderun, Alexandretta Bay, in Turkey; J- Jaffa, in Israel; Pel-Pellusium in Sinai in Egypt; Said- Saida, Sidon, in Lebanon; Tri- Tripoli, in Lebanon; Tyre- Sur, Tsur, in Lebanon; Y- Yavneh, in Israel.

^e Tsunami symbols: ‘~~~’ reported for a specific site; ‘~~’ reported at coasts of this country; ‘~’ reported at a general region; `?’ tsunami inferred or questionable. Phase of the tsunami if explicitly mentioned: #8595;- down; ↑- up. Order of phases in time is from left to right.

^f NC: List is not complete for this coast.

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Table 2

Doubtful tsunamis reported for the Eastern Mediterranean

Event ^a	Sources of data and short description ^b	Affected Area ^c	Why doubtful ^d
II millennium B.C.	Am3: Syrian coasts… From cuneiform texts.	S	SSG: “these writings most likely referred to the events of 1380 B.C. (1380 ±100 B.C.), and to the period between 1700 B.C. and 1380 B.C,…” which is later considered as the LM tsunami. It could also be the 1365 B.C. tsunami mentioned by AJM to be taken from a tablet from Tel Amarna in Egypt.
1627-1600 B.C.	Pumice findings in Cyprus and Israel were considered as evidence for this tsunami.	M-L	The tsunami that followed the Late Minoan (LM) Thera (Santorini) eruption. Am1. DH. An8. CA. Me. MH. MIK. MM. PC1. PC2. Yok. The tsunami did occur in the Aegean Sea, however DH questions the finding of Pumice in Cyprus and Israel as a tsunamite of this event.
760 B.C.	Am3: Coasts of Israel and Lebanon. BM: 759 B.C.	M	Be: This is just an example. It appears in the Bible, book of Amos, chapter 9, chronologically indeterminate with no clear connection to the earthquake mentioned previously in chapter 1 that in turn is reported and dated in a historical context.
590 B.C.	Am3: Coasts of Lebanon. Sur (Tyre).	S	Am3: “Not found in early texts”. No ancient sources for an earthquake or a tsunami on that year.
525 B.C.	Coasts of Lebanon. Saida (Sidon). Shal: An earthquake possibly followed by a tsunami in Tyre.	S	Am3: doubtful, “No authority is quoted. No mention of a seismic sea wave by chronicles who describe the earthquake”. An1.
240 B.C.	Shal; Possible tsunami between Beirut and Akko.	S	Shal: Should be associated with the tsunami of 140 B.C.
222 B.C.	AE: Rhodes, Cyprus, Corinth.	S	Am3: doubtful. Mistaken for the 142 A.D. tsunami in the island of Rhodes.
198 B.C.	SSG: “Eastern coastal area of Mediterranean sea. Shortly after the appearance of a big comet an earthquake occurred that was accompanied by an overflow of the sea water.”	M	This was duplicated from the event of 373/372 B.C. (SSG, GCT) which occurred in the Gulf of Corinth. AW, GCT: Earthquake in Sidon, Phonicia, Syria, on 199-198 BC, but tsunami is not mentioned.
92 02 28 B.C.	AAT: Tsunami on Levant coasts. Coasts of Lebanon and Israel. BM: Big tsunami hit Levantine coasts. Flooding of Pellusium. Shal: 92 BC, earthquake and tsunami.	M	Ka:” This event (92 B.C.) illustrates the role of locally composed Jewish texts in analysis of several 2^nd century B.C. earthquakes that were imported into the Israeli catalogues from elsewhere in Eastern Mediterranean”.
26 B.C.	AE: Paphos-Cyprus	S	GCT: The only earthquake concerning Cyprus in this period is the one dated to 17 B.C. and no tsunami is mention for that event.
A.D. 76	Cyprus, Kition, Paphos and Salamis. AE.	S	Am3: doubtful. “… Storm sea-waves…” An2: “… no mention of such an event in the narrations of early chroniclers…”
115 12 13	Shal: The coast between Caesarea and Yavne was hit (Based on Judaic sources). RGB: Underwater geoarchaeological findings offshore near Caesarea may suggest the occurrence of a tsunami between 1^st c. B.C. to 2^nd c. A.D.	S	We could not find this tsunami in other sources and the affected coast is far south of the earthquake location. Large storm surges need to be clearly excluded as the possible source for these findings. This event certainly needs further investigation.
293-308	AAT, BM: 306, Tsunami at Caesarea. GCT: 293-306, tsunami in Salamis (Cyprus). Shal: 308 (winter), Caesarea (?)	S-M	Shal (and AAT after Shal) doubt this event. Re-evaluating the original sources for the earthquake of 293-306 (“and the greater part of it [Salamis] was plunged into the sea by an earthquake”), a landslide is a more plausible interpretation rather than a tsunami, as previously suggested by GCT. We did not find original sources that mention a tsunami in this time period.
342	AE: Paphos, Famagusta – Cyprus.	S	Am3: doubtful. “… No seismic sea-wave…” An2: “… we can find no reference to such an event…”
348/9	Syrian coasts. Beirut, Arwad Islands (near Tartus). BM: the earthquake occurred on 349. Shal.	S–M	Am3, An2: “Not found in contemporary writers”. The primary sources for this earthquake do not mention a tsunami.
Winter 542	AAT: Lebanese coast: Tripoli, Beirut, Byblos (25 km north of Beirut), Laodicea (Latakia). The sea receded 2 miles.	S	Shal: duplicated after the tsunami of 551 07 09. AE. An3. Am3: “542 winter. Sea of Marmara (Turkey). Thracian coasts(northeast Greece)…” The tsunami occurred outside of the present study area.
811	Coasts of Israel and Egypt, from Acre to Alexandria. AAT: Coasts of Israel and Lebanon.	M – L	Am3: it was mistakenly duplicated after the 1303 tsunami. An3: “… we were unable to find any justification for this event…” SSG: it was erroneously duplicating the 881/2 tsunami but AMA interpret that no tidal wave followed the 881/2 earthquake.
859 04 08	Shal: Great earthquake that caused a tsunami that hit the northern Syrian coast.	S	Shal: Doubtful, as is the tsunami of 991.
859 12 30 – 860 01 29	Am3, An1, An3: Syrian coasts, near Samandag, southwest of Antioch.SSG: “In the region of Samandagi (some references give Akko) sea receded and than flooded the coast.”	S	GCT: The description of al-Tabari is rather generic: “Mount Casius split open and rocks fell into the sea, which was stormy that day” and can be interpret as a landslide into the sea. The effect at sea (which was interpreted as a tsunami) was given by much later sources. AMA do not mention a tsunami. In any case, we do not exclude the possible scenario of a rock-fall that generates a small local tsunami.
881/2	AAT: Tsunami at Akko. SSG: A tidal wave in Akko… sea level rose in Alexandria, The Nile overflowed its banks…	S – M	AMA: erroneous. No tsunami. An1.
991 04 05	Coasts of Syria. Shal: Earthquake in Syria, felt as far as Egypt, possibly associated with a tsunami.	S	Am3: doubtful. “… this earthquake was not accompanied by a seismic sea-wave.” An3. Shal: doubtful.
1032 03 06	AAT: Tsunami at Ashkelon and Gaza. BM : tsunami.	S	GC: no written sources for this event. 1033 12 05 is confused with 1032 03 06 (that actually occurred in 1033 03 06 in Constantinople, Turkey).
1115 11 29	AE: Ceyhan, Antakya, Maras (around Iskenderun Bay). AAT: Apparently Antiochia (Antioch). BM: 1114 08 10.	S	Am6: “We could not substantiate the statement that as a result of the earthquake the sea got up … causing some damage, spurious information, perhaps belonging to the earthquake of 10th August 1114”. However, the file concerning the earthquake of 8th August 1114 does not mention a tsunami.
1157 08 15	AB: … associated with a sea wave. AE:Hama-Homs (northwestern Syria), Chaizar Region, 1157 07 15.	S	Am6 in a later study of that event (that follows AB) does not mention a tsunami.
1170 06 29	AB: … associated with a sea wave.	S	Am6 in a later study of that event (that follows AB) does not mention a tsunami.
1261	Shal(after Makrizi): Strong earthquake in the coast of Lebanon that caused the sinking of seven islands between Akko and Tripoli.	S	Tsunami is not explicitly mentioned. We could not verify this event in other catalogs.
1303 12	Am3: …Egyptian coasts…	L	Duplicated from the 1303 08 08 because of mistaken chronological interpretation. It is not mentioned in later catalogs (GC), neither in AMA (that follows Am3).
1402/3 11 16	Am3: 1403 11 16: Syrian coasts, Asia Minor south coasts. AAT: 1402, Lebanese coast. The sea receded and then invaded the land. An4. BM: Tsunami hit coasts of Lebanon and Asia Minor. 1402 11 16. Shal. SSG: 1403 (1402) November 16, Near the shore of Syria and Palestine, the sea receded by more than one mile…	M	AM2: erroneous location. All the catalogues directly or indirectly depend on Pe. Pe, however, erroneously located an earthquake/tsunami in Syria which had actually occurred in Greece in the Gulf of Corinth.
1481 10 03	AAT: 1481 10 03, Tsunami at Levant coast, not substantiated for Israel. BM: 1481 10 03, Tsunami at Levantine coasts.	S-M	GC: no tsunami effects for that earthquake. The 1481 05 03 tsunami however, was limited to Rhodes only.
1493 08 18	BM: Earthquake in Kos. Tidal wave at Jaffa. Sea receded.	S	GC: the earthquake at Kos ( Eastern Aegean Sea) occurred on 1493 10 18 and tsunami was not mentioned. We did not find primary sources for this tsunami.
1534	Coasts of Israel. Jaffa. AAT: Jaffa. SSG: Jaffa.	S	Am3: Not found in contemporary sources. AK: Duplicated event. We could not find primary sources for this tsunami
1639	Shal: Earthquake in thy esea that sunk ships that anched in Lebanon ports.	S	Tsunami is not explicitly mentioned. We could not find which source Shal* was referring to and could not find this tsunami in other sources*
1752 07 21	An5, BM: Syrian coasts. Shal: Syrian coast, Latakia and Tripoli. SSG: Latakia.	S	Am3: “no authority is quoted” (by Si). We could not find the primary sources for this earthquake and tsunami.
1822 08 13	AE: Antakya, Iskendrun, Kilis (around the Iskenderun Bay). AAT: Beirut. BM: Tsunami at Iskendrun. SSG: Tsunami was observed in Beirut, Iskendrun, Island of Cyprus.	S-M	Am4: “The main shock was felt by ships sailing between Cyprus and Lattakiya and halfway between Alexandria and Cyprus. There is no evidence that this event was associated with a seismic sea-wave in the Eastern Mediterranean or with an abnormal fluctuation of sea-level”.
1856 10 12	AAT: Haifa, 1856 10 10. BM: Tsunami at Haifa and Lebanon coasts. Shal: 1856 10 10, “During earthquake that hit the Levant coast, a strong sea storm developed in Haifa with not any wind blowing.” SSG: Island of Crete. A tsunami was generated. Originated at the Hellenic Arc.		AMA: “It was strongly felt by boats sailing off and as far as Central Italy” but tsunami is not explicitly mentioned in the description of this earthquake." PC: question it (Northern Crete (?)) and Pa does not mention it. This event needs further investigation.
1865 04 22	Shal: Earthquake along the Syrian coast, in the southern coast of Anatolia and the islands. Large storm was felt in Tripoli (a tsunami?)	S	BM mentions only an earthquake on April 22, 1863, in the East Hellenic arc. SSG mentions an earthquake and a storm on 1863 March 22, 22:15, in the Aegean Sea, Island of Rhodes, and that: " …report on the earthquake got mixed up with information on the storm…” Also: “The sea near Tripolis (Tarabulus esh Sham, Lebanon) was furrowed by huge waves at midday on March 22.” (before the earthquake?). We did not find an earthquake or a tsunami at that day in other sources.
1941 01 20	AA: Ms=5.9 earthquake in Cyprus. “The earthquake was accompanied by a small seismic sea-wave on the coast of Palestine” (after Shal?).	S	Shal: The earthquake was felt in Palestine and was associated with a strong sea storm. However, mareographs were not systematically examined in order to determine if this was a seismogenic sea storm. Needs further investigation.
1949 06 18	Shal: Seismic sea wave at the coast of Israel as a result of an earthquake in Greece (Santorini!?) on June 17^th. AAT (after Shal): Light tsunami on the coast of Israel.	S-M	ISC lists a moderate M_L=5.5 event, on 1949 06 17 04:20, at N34.4 E28.5 (East Mediterranean). A tsunami, if generated, should have arrived to Israel about two hours later. However, none of the catalogs we searched listed a tsunami at that time or a few days later.

^a Events are marked by time of occurrence: year, month and day. ‘ºº’: The “reliable period” used for hazard evaluation of the reliable events listed in Tables 1 and 3, starts at about mid 2^nd century B.C.

^b Not all of the doubtful events are “non-events”. For example, the 1627-1600 B.C. Thera tsunami did occur but so far we have no historiography or field evidence that it reached to the Levant coast. We could not verify these tsunamis with the sources available to us and further examination is certainly needed. List of sources for the doubtful tsunamis is not complete, only a few examples are mentioned here. Sources are in bold letters, see list of reference abbreviations.

^c Alleged areal extent of the doubtful tsunami as described in the literature: L: occurred over a wide range or in several distant coasts along the Eastern Mediterranean; M: spread along several nearby coasts; S: limited to a few nearby coasts only.

^d Our comments and interpretation are in Italic letters.

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Table 3

Significant historical earthquakes possibly occurred along the Dead Sea Transform system

Earthquake ^a	DST ^b Region	Est. Size ^c	Tsunami ^d	Seismite^e MI: I, II, III KAE: A … H	Source of data and comments ^f
760-750 B.C.	C	?	speculated	I, 759 B.C.	GCT. Am7: “…date, location and magnitude of which cannot be assessed.” BM: 759 10 11 evening. FW. ZAB: Possibly a surface rupture at Bet Shean Valley.
199 – 198 B.C.	N	M (?)	-	-	AW: 198 B.C. GCT: 199 – 198 B.C. Ka: “famed emergence of the island of Hiera in 198 B.C.”
Mid 2^nd century B.C.	N	?	? Mid 2^nd century B.C.	II, 140 B.C.	Ka: “earthquake and submergence at nearby Sidon”, 143/2 B.C.?
148 02 21 B.C. or 130 B.C.	N	M (?)	-	?	AW. GCT. Ka: 146 B.C or 140 B.C.
69 – 65 B.C.	N	M (?)	-	Masked, 64BC A	AW:69 – 66 BC. GCT: c.65 B.C. Ka.
31 B.C. early spring	C	M (-)	-	I B	GCT. Ka: magnitude in the range of 6-6.5.
A.D. 37 03 23 morning	N	M (-)	-	-	GCT: Damage to Antioch and Daphne.
115 12 13 night	N	L	?	III	AJ: Ms=Large. GCT. MGS: M_W=7.3-7.5, Surface rupture at Missyaf segment, Syria.
127-130	C	M (-)	-	-	AAT: 130, “… Caesarea: severe damage…” GCT: Caesarea and Nicopolis (Emmaus).
303/4	N	M (-)	-	-	AAT: 306. GCT: Destruction at Tyre and Sidon.
363 05 18-19, night	C	L (-)	-	D	Am9: Ms=7.4. GCT. Shal: 363 05 24, tsunami in southern Dead Sea.
419	C	M (-)	-	III hiatus	AAT: Many towns and villages destroyed. CT.
502 08 22 night	N?	M	-	III	AAT. GCT.
526 05 20/29 mid-day	N	M	-	-	GCT: Antioch, Seleucia (Turkey)
528 11 29	N	M	-	-	GCT: Antioch, Laodicea (Latakia, Syria)
551 07 09	N	L (-)	551 07 09	III Hiatus	AJ: m. AMA. Am3: “Many writers place… offshore from Lebanon. … us, however, suggest an epicenter in the Jordan Valley”. Am9: Ms=7.3. DEK: Mount Lebanon thrust. GCT. DSM: Roum Fault.
c. 570	N	M	-	-	GCT.
601-602	N	M	-	-	GCT.
659/660	C	M	-	III, A.D. 660 Hiatus	AAT: Jordan Valley… Rehov, Jericho (along the Jordan Valley). GCT: September 659-August 660.
713 02 28 / 03 10	N	M	-	-	BM: 713 03 20. GCT.
746 01 18 morning	C	M (+)	746 01 18	III, A.D. 749 Hiatus	Am8: 746 01 18. Am9: Ms=7.0. AAT: 749 01 18. GCT: 749 01 18. Ka. MHH: Surface rupture in Tiberias (western coast of the Sea of Galilee).
847 11 24	N	M	-	-	GCT.
859 12 30 – 860 01 29	N	L (-)	-	III	AMA 860 01. AAT: 859 04 08. Am9: Ms=7.0. An4: “a large number of earthquakes prevailed in the east”. GCT.
991 04 05 night	N	M (-)	-	III	GCT.
1002 11 10 – 1003 10 29	N	M (-)	-	-	AAT: 1002+. GC.
1033 12 05 before sunset	C	M (+)	1033 12 05	I Hiatus	AJ. AMA. AAT: 1033/4 winter, a swarm of earthquakes, including the strongest shock on 1033 12 10 and another on 1034 01 04. Probably in the Jordan Valley. GC: Me=6.0.
1063 07 30 – 08 27	N	M (+)	-	masked	GC: Coastal region from Antioch to Tyre, Me=5.6.
1068 03 18 08 30	S	L (-)	-	III hiatus	AJ: L. AMA: Northern Hejaz, near Tabuk (east of the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea). GC: Aila (Elat, Aqaba, northernmost tip of Gulf of Aqaba), first of two events, Me=8.1. AZP, ZAP: Surface rupture in the southern Arava Valley, M: 6.6-7.
1068 05 29	S-C	M	1068 05 29	?	AMA. GC: The second of two events, in Ramla, Me=6.0.
1138 10 11	N	M (+)	-	-	Seismic sequence from 1138 10 until 1039 06, main-shock on 1138 10 11. Detailed discussion in Am6 and GBC. Am6: M<7. GC: Me=6.0.
c. 1150	C	M (-)	-	- hiatus	AAT: 1160. GC: mid 12^nd century.
1156 12 09	N	M (-)	-	-	GC. No damage mentioned by Am6, Me=5.3.
1157 04 02	N	M (-)	-	-	GC: Me=5.8. Am6: probably damaging.
1157 07 05	N	M	-	-	GC: Me=6.8. Am6 do not consider this a damaging shock whereas the 1157 07 13 was damaging.
1157 08 12	N	L (-)	-	-	Detailed discussion in Am6, GBC. AJ: V. Am9: Ms=7.2. GC. Possibly the strongest shock of the seismic sequence during 1157 08 09 – 09 07.
1163 08	N	M (-)	-	-	GC: Antioch area.
1170 06 29 0345 UT	N	L	-	-	Detailed discussion in Am6 and GBCB. AJ: L. Am9: Ms=7.3. AMA. MGS: M_W=7.3-7.5, Surface rupture at Missyaf segment, Syria. GC also hypothesize, though not conclusively, the occurrence of two events rather than of one, Me=7.7.
1202 05 20 0240 UT	C-N	L (-)	1202 05 20	masked	AB: Syria-Baalbek, Ms=7.5. AJ: L. AM2. AMA. Am9: Ms=7.2. DKT: Yammouneh fault. EMA. GC: Me=7.6. MAE, MRH: Surface rupture at Jordan Gorge (south of the Hula Valley)segment.
1212 05 01	S	L (-)	-	II, A.D. 1212 E	AMA: 1212 05 01 05 00. Am9: Ms=7.0. BM: 1312 05 01 dawn, Heavy destruction at St. Catherine Monastery (Sinai). GC: Me=5.8. KAD: Possible surface rupture in the northern Arava Valley, Mw~7.
1287 02 ? – 03 22	N	M (-)	-	-	GC: three events.
1293 01 11 – 02 08	S-C	M (-)	-	II F	AAT: 1293+. AMA. GC: Me=5.8.
1404 02 20	N	M	-	-	AB: 1404 02 22, Ms Large, Syria-Hatab. GC: Aleppo, Tripoli.
1408 12 29	N	M (+)	1408 12 29	masked	Western Syria. AJ: m, 1408 12 29. BM: 1408 12 30, near Allepo. GC: Me=6.0.
1458 11 08/16	S	M (+)	-	I hiatus	AMA: 1458 11 12. Am9: Ms=7.1. GC: Me=5.6. KAD: Possible surface rupture in the northern Arava Valley, Mw~7.
1546 01 14 afternoon	C	M (-)	1546 01 14	II hiatus	AK: a medium magnitude event of M_S about 6.0, in many respects similar to that of the earthquake of 1927. AMA: 1546 01 14 16 00. AAT.
1588 01 04 13:00	S	M	-	II	AMA. Am9: Ms=7.2. BM: Southern Sinai.
1705 11 24	N	M (-)	-	-	AF1. PT: 1705. SDM: Intensity distribution: Yabroud VIII, Al-Qastal VIII, Damascus VII, Tripoli VII. Aftershocks.
1738 09 25	N	M (-)	-	-	AF2: Region of Amanus, near Antioch.
1759 10 30 03:45 LT	C-N	M (+)	1759 10 30	?	AB: S. Bekaa (along the Yammaouneh fault), Ms=6.6. AAT. BM: Seiche in Sea of Galilee. DKT: Rachaiya fault. MRH: Surface rupture at Jordan Gorge segment.
1759 11 25 19:23LT	N	L (+)	1759 11 25	II	AB: Syria-Bekaa, Ms=7.4. AJ: L. Am9: Ms=7.5. DKT: Serghaya fault. GMDS: Serghaya Fault?
1796 04 26 09:05	N	M (+)	-	-	AB. AF. AJ: Ms=6.6, Syria-Ladhikiya(Latakia). Am4.
1822 08 13 20:40	N	L (+)	-	II	AB: Ms=7.4. Aafrine, Turkey-Syria region, the East Anatolian Fault where it joins the Dead Sea system. AJ: Ms=7.5. Am4. AAT.
1834 05 26 04:00	C	M (-)	-	Masked G	AAT. BM: M_L =6.3.
1837 01 01 14:34	C-N	L (-)	-	II	AJ: Ms=7.4. AAT. Am9: Ms=7.0. BM: tsunami in the Sea of Galilee. Am5: Possibly the Roum fault, but no conclusive evidence.
1872 04 03 07:40	N	L (-)	1872 04 03	-	AB: Ms=7.2, Amik Gulu,.the East Anatolian Fault where it joins the Dead Sea system. AJ, Am9: Ms=7.2. Am4. Am9: Ms=7.0.
1918 09 29 12:07	N	M (-)	-	-	ISC. Shap: M_L=6.2.
1927 07 11 13 04	C	M (-)	-	I H, EKE	AAT: Wave in the Dead Sea. BMN. SAN: Northern Dead Sea, M_L=6.2.
1995 11 22 04 15	S	L (-)	-	No data	ISC: Ms=7.1

^a Events are marked by time of occurrence, as detailed as known: year, month, day, hour, minute (UT). LT: local time. ‘ººº’: The “reliable period” used for hazard evaluation, starts at about mid 2^nd century B.C.

^b Local earthquakes along the DST system, not necessarily on the main transform: N: northern part, in Syria and Lebanon; C: central part, in Israel, from the Hula Valley to the Dead Sea; S: southern part, in Israel, Arava Valley and southwards.

^c Size of the earthquakes. We follow the broad categories suggested by AJ: V- very large event (Ms ≥ 7.8), L- large (7.8 > Ms ≥ 7.0), M- Moderate (7.0 > Ms ≥ 6.0) and S- small (Ms < 6.0). Lower range of the ‘M’ and ‘L’ sizes are noted by (-) and higher by (+). Estimations were taken from historical, geological and paleoseismological studies. If not available, we estimated the size according to our best judgment.

^d Tsunami is mentioned if associated with this earthquake. Timing of earthquakes and tsunamis does not always match and it may reflect ambiguities in the historical data. We therefore associated the tsunami with its most likely causative earthquake.

^e Appearance of a deformed sedimentary structure (a mixed layer) in the Dead Sea Holocene deposits that is associated with historic earthquake. KAE correlations for the last two millennia are noted as ‘+ A, B…’ or ‘hiatus’ if no (deformed or un-deformed) sedimentary record is found for the time period of that event. MAB findings are noted as types I, II and III according to the thickness of the seismite: >5, 1 – 5, and <1 cm, respectively. Records of earthquakes (deformed layer) that were probably deformed by subsequent events are noted as ‘masked’. EKE: Deformed layer.

^f More comments are in Appendices 1 and 2. ‘Me’: “equivalent magnitude value”, refer to GC for explanation.

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Table 4

Remote earthquakes that generated tsunamis that arrived at the Eastern Mediterranean coast

Date	Region ^a	Tsunami	Estimated Magnitude	Source of data and comments
17 B.C.	CA	23±3 B.C. ?	M	GCT: 17 B.C. is the only earthquake in Cyprus at that time.
365 07 21 before sunrise	HA-W	365 07 21	V	AMA. AJM. DH. GCT: epicenter in central part of Crete.
802 12 30 – 803 12 19	CA-EAF	802 12 30 – 803 12 19	?	An4: “… earthquake and an inundation at Massisah…” This is in the northwestern side of Iskendrun Bay, Turkey.
1036 03 12 – 1037 03 11	CA-EAF	1036 03 12 – 1037 03 11	M (-)	GC: Earthquake in Cilicia, southern Turkey, facing the Gulf of Iskendrun. No record of damage but substantial natural effects.
1222 05 11 06:15 UT	CA	1222 05 11	M	AMA, in Cyprus. GC: southern Cyprus, Me=6.0.
1303 08 08 03:30 UT	HA-E	1303 08 08	V	AMA. GC: Crete, Me=8.0.
1870 06 24 17:00 UT	HA-E	1870 06 24	L	AMA : 1870 06 24 18 25.
1908 12 28 05:20 UT	IT	1908 12 28	L (+)	BGF: M7.1. ISC: Ms=7.5. Messina Straits, Italy.
1953 09 10 04:06 UT	CA	1953 09 10	M	ISC: M=6.2-6.5.
1956 07 09 03 11 38 UT	AS	1956 07 09	L	Am1, Am3: M=7.5. Seismic sea wave in the Greek Archipelago. DH. GG: Tsunami in Jaffa. PKH. Shal: Possibly “an echo” of a tsunami in Haifa Bay. VD.

These earthquakes occurred out of the DST region, but not necessarily far away. The two CA-EAF events are in fact in Anatolia (Asia Minor), on the northwestern side of the Iskendrun Bay, opposite the DST.

Details are as in tables 1 and 3. More comments are in Appendices 1 and 2.

^a Region: AS: Aegean Sea; CA: Cypriot Arc; CA-EAF: The transition zone from the Cypriot Arc to the East Anatolian Fault, close to the triple junction with the Dead Sea Transform; HA-E: Eastern Hellenic Arc; HA-W: Western Hellenic Arc; IT: Italy; EMD: Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

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Table 5

Significant earthquakes recorded during the 20^th century that did not generate a tsunami or generated a tsunami that did not arrive to the Eastern Mediterranean coast

Earthquake	Magnitude	Region	Faulting Type	Tsunami	Source of data and comments
1918 09 29 12:07	M_L=6.2	Northwest Syria, on land	Not known	-	ISC. Shap.
1927 07 11 13:04	M_L=6.2	Dead Sea – Jericho, on land	Shear?	Dead Sea, Mediterranean?	BMN. Shal: ‘Probably unclear’ tsunami in the Mediterranean sea.
1953 08 12 09:23	M~7.2	Western Greece		Small local tsunami	ISC. mb: No signal found on mareogram at Haifa Bay.
1953 09 10 04:06	M_L=6.2	Southwestern Cyprus, in the sea	Shear	A series of tidal waves in Cyprus	ISC. PaPa. SSG.
1955 09 12 06:09	M_L=6.1	Southeast Mediterranean, in the sea	Thrust	-	Shal: No signal found on mareogram at Haifa Bay. SHG.
1956 03 16 19:32 1956 03 16 19:43	M_L=5.2 M_L=5.5	Southern Lebanon, on land	Shear Shear	-	Shal: No signal found on mareogram at Haifa Bay. SHG.
1969 03 31 07:16	M_L=6.6, mb=7.0	Gulf of Suez, in the sea	Normal	-	ISC. MDM.
1992 10 12 13:09	mb =5.9	Cairo, on land	Normal	-	ISC, Casualties and severe damage in part of Cairo.
1995 11 22 04 15	Mw=7.1	Gulf of Elat (Aqaba), in the sea	Shear	In the Gulf of Elat	ISC. Wu.

It is not always clear why some of these strong earthquakes did not generate a tsunami in the Eastern Mediterranean and there is not enough information to relate earthquake mechanism with tsunami generation like PaPa did for Greece. Perhaps all the earthquakes located outside the Mediterranean Sea (the 1918, 1927, 1956, 1969, 1992 and 1995) did not generate large enough ground acceleration or were too far from the continental margins of the Levant to produce tsunamigenic slumps. Interestingly enough, AK concluded that the DST 1546 tsunamigenic earthquake was as large as the 1927 non-tsunamigenic event. The 1953 events did produce tsunamis, but not large enough to reach to the Levant whereas the 1955 earthquake were probably not strong or shallow enough to produce a tsunami.

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Table 6

While collecting the historical accounts, we came across reports of seismic sea waves in the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberias, Lake Kinneret), most of which were already listed by Shal and AAT. Whether these were tsunamis or seisches is not clear. We present these lists again, with some updates. In modern times, seismic sea waves were also observed in the Gulf of Aqaba.

Dead Sea
i.	315	Am3
ii.	363 05 19	AAT, Am3, BM, Shal
iii.	746 01 18	Am8?, AAT, BM, Shal
iv.	1546	AAT, BM, Shal
v.	1927 07 11	AAT, Shal
vi.	1969 03 31	BM: “Small waves (~30 cm) in the Dead Sea”.
vii.	2004 02 11	Sal

Sea of Galilee
i.	3rd Century?	Shal
ii.	746 01 18	BM, Ka?
iii.	1759 10 30	AAT, BM
iv.	1837 01 01	AAT, Am3, BM, Shal

Gulf of Aqaba
i.	1969 03 31	BM: “Sea at Eilat Gulf became stormy”, After M_L=6.8, northern Red Sea earthquake.
ii.	1995 11 22	Wu: a wave up to a meter high after the M7.2, Nuweiba earthquake.

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Appendix 1

Comments on some selected tsunamis and earthquakes that were included in our list.

1365±5 B.C.	We suppose that this is also the II millennium B.C. tsunami in the Syrian coasts as mentioned by Am3 and it relates to the flooding of Ugarit as reported by cuneiform texts (on tablets) found in Egypt (AJM).
760-750 B.C.	Known as the Amos’s, Zechariah’s or Uzziah’s earthquake. Am7: “…the earthquake in Amos remains an event the date, location and magnitude of which cannot be assessed…” relating for example, to evaluations given by AFF and BM (759 10 11 B.C., evening, ML =7.3).
2^nd Century B.C: Following AW, GCT and Ka, we suggest the following interpretation:
	I.	199 – 198 B.C., earthquake: AW, GCT: Earthquake in Sidon, Phoenicia and Syria. Ka: “famed emergence of the island of Hiera in 198 B.C.”
	II.	Mid 2^nd century B.C., earthquake: Ka raises the possibility that the report about the earthquake and submergence at nearby Sidon could be associated with the mid 2^nd century B.C. tidal wave between Ptolemais and Sidon. The same report was interpreted by AW and GCT as the 199-198 B.C earthquake in Phonicia and Syria. GMDH found a paleoseismic event dated for 170 B.C – A.D. 20 on the Serghaya fault, Syria, but there are no direct evidences to associate it with the mid 2^nd century B.C. earthquake.
	III.	Mid 2^nd century B.C., tsunami: Ka: “Tidal wave between Tyre and Ptolemais […]”, probably around 143/2 B.C. It could be associated with the mid 2^nd century B.C. earthquake. AW: 139 B.C., “… a sea-wave flooded the shore between Ptolemais and Sidon […] There is no evidence that this event was associated with an earthquake. We regard it as an orphan tsunami.
	IV.	148 02 21 or 130 B.C., earthquake: AW, GCT: Earthquake in Antioch. Ka: possibly 146 B.C. or 140 B.C. MAB note a deformed layer for 140 B.C.
	V.	92 02 28 B.C., False earthquake and false tsunami: Ka: these were “imported into the Israeli catalogues from elsewhere in Eastern Mediterranean” (e.g., Shal, BM, AAT) and “So far no evidence was found of impact of the ca. 90 B.C. Apamea Kibotos (Central Turkey) earthquake on the Egyptian-Israeli-Levant coastal cities.” It was probably taken from the mid 2^nd century B.C. earthquake and tsunami. MAB note a deformed layer for 92 B.C.
	VI.	Ca. 90 B.C., earthquake: AW, Ka: Earthquake in Apamea Kibotos (Phrygia, Asia Minor). GCT: The Apamea Kibotos (Turkey) occurred before 88 B.C.
69-64 B.C.	We follow Ka interpretation that this event occurred in Antioch (GCT date this event on 65 B.C. and AW on 69 B.C.) and later “…imported into the Israeli catalogues…” and placed on 64 B.C. in Jerusalem (e.g., by AAT, BM).
31 B.C.	We follow Ka evaluation that this was a moderate event rather than a strong one, as previously suggested (e.g., AAT, BM: for 31 09 02).
23±3 B.C.	The tsunami could be associated with the 17 B.C. earthquakes in Cyprus however no tsunami was reported for this earthquake. AMA: No earthquakes in Lower Egypt for that time. We regard it as an orphan tsunami.
A.D. 362-363	3 events are mentioned at this time span: i) tsunami in the Dead Sea on 362 (Am3, SSG); ii) earthquake east of the Lisan and tsunami in the Dead Sea on May 24, 362 (BM) iii) earthquake that affected most of Palestine and Jordan and tsunami in the Dead Sea on May 19, 363 (AAT). It may all have emerged from one large event, but can also reflect the occurrence of several successive strong shocks. We introduced only one event.
419	Damage in localized area, Aphek/Antipatris (about 10 km east of Jaffa) destroyed (AAT), no regional affects, apparently small to moderate.
551 07 09	Recent studies (AMA, DSM, GCT) restrict the tsunami mainly to Beirut and close to Tripoli
746-9	Earthquake: For this period: AMA- suggest an earthquake on 747 01 18; Am3- suggests a tsunami on 746 01 18; AAT- earthquake and tsunami on 749 01 18; BM- an earthquake on 746 01 18; Shal- an earthquake and a tsunami on 746 01 18; SSG- Earthquake and possibly a tsunami on 746. Recent studies of Ka and Am8 however, suggest the occurrence of two earthquakes (at least). We follow the later studies and introduced one earthquake and one tsunami on 746 01 18. Am8: “The second earthquake, which occurred in 749 or early in 750, affected only Mesopotamia and presumably the adjacent part of northern Syria”. Mesopotamia does not belong to the DST system and therefore we did not introduce this ‘second’ event.
746 01 18	Tsunami: Following GCT, KA and Am8, we understand that the tsunami followed the first event. However, there is no definite location to where the tsunami occurred. Am8 suggests that what Michael the Syrian describes could be interpreted as an exotic storm, in the Dead Sea. Ka notes that there is no mention where the tsunami occurred and which cities were affected, and that the Dead Sea and Sea of Galilee could well do for it. Therefore a tsunami in the Mediterranean, as previously suggested by many researchers (Am3: Syrian and Egyptian coasts. AAT: 749 01 18, “Tsunami on Mediterranean coast”. Many ships were sunk at sea. Shal: Levant coast. SSG: “… Waves were observed in Lebanon and Egypt.”), is an interpretation rather than a report. We also interpret this tsunami to occur in the Mediterranean, and to our best judgment it may have occurred opposite to the area of maximum damage and the possible surface rupture (after Am8, MHH).
991 04 05	Specific damage only at Baalbek and Damascus. We consider it a moderate event.
1002	Reported to caused damage and loss of life but no mention of specific locations. We assume small to moderate size event.
1033 12 05	Follow AMA and GC we constrain the tsunami to northern and central coasts of Israel only.
1036 03 12 - 1037 03 11	GC: The earthquake occurred in Cilicia, southern Turkey, along the northern side of the of Iskendrun, probably on the DST system.
1063+	AAT mention epicenter in Antioch and destruction in Elat and may have confused reports from the event of 1063 in Tripoli, Lebanon, with reports from 1068 in Elat.
1067-1070	Several earthquakes are mentioned during this time period (e.g., AAT, BM) and they are mostly attributed to the event occurred on March 18, 1068 in southern Israel. AMA, GC: The dates of 1067 04 20, 1067 11 11, 1068 04 20, 1070 02 25, 1168 03 18 and 1169, are duplications and misreports of the earthquakes actually occurred on 18th March and 29th May 1068.
c. 1150 (1160)	Severe damage to the Monasteries of Mar Elias and St. John (few km west of the Dead Sea). We consider it as damage to two different localities and this is just the threshold entry for our list, but we may have overestimating the size of this event.
1156-1159	Detailed discussion in Am6, GBC and GC.
1202 05 20	Detailed analysis in AM1, AMA and GC point to a tsunami between Cyprus and the Syrian coast, but no specific coast, nor the extent of the historic Syrian coast are mentioned. Usually “Syria” translates the Arab term “Sham” that however had a more extensive geographical connotation of the territory of the present-day State called Syria. For the Arabs “Sham” included, besides Syria, also present-day Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine. We interpret the extent of this tsunami to occur along the coast of the historic Syria and opposite the high damage zone and surface rupture of the causing earthquake. It results in a tsunami interpret to occurred from Tripoli to Akko and southeastern coast of Cyprus and it does not include Syria of today! The cause for damage in Akko is not clear in AAT: was it the strong shaking, the tsunami or both?
1287 February – March 22	The first of the three events in this sequence caused damage in Hims (Homs, northwest Syria) and Zefat (about 20 km northwest of Tiberias) (GC). This is the type events with the smallest magnitude that we included in our list.
1456-59	Between one and three events, damage reported appears moderate, could be similar in size to 1927? We follow GC and include only the 1458 11 08/16 event.
1588	No specific damage. Occurred in sparsely populated area. We consider it a moderate event but it could also be a distant large event in the south.
1759	AB describe a tsunami for each of the two earthquakes while AAT and SSG may have not resolved it.
1834	Moderate earthquake, damage seems less severe than in 1927.
1956 07 09	Large tsunami occurred at this day in the Aegean Sea (Am1). It was probably resulted from submarine slump triggered by the earthquake that occurred on 1956 07 09 03:12 (UT), or its aftershock of M~7.2 that occurred 13 minutes later (PePa). Shal lists “echo”, or “trace” of a tsunami in Haifa Bay on 12:40 LT (09:40 UT) that followed the M~7.5 earthquake in the Aegean Sea. The tsunami signal might have been interfered with the rough sea caused by a barometric low and high wind at that time in the Eastern Mediterranean, and thus made it difficult to be recognized. The signal Shal attributed to this tsunami arrived 6 hours after the origin of the tsunami and its period was more than 6 hours. Therefore the abnormal fluctuation of sea level in the Haifa Bay at this time should be re-examined.

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Appendix 2

Comments on some of the tsunamis and earthquakes that were not included in our list. These events reported to affect very small area, damage only one site, based only on archaeological data, found dubious or seen only in deformed layers (KAE, MAB).

II millennium B.C.	We suppose that this was the 1365± tsunami mentioned by Am3: “Syrian coasts, Ugarit near Minet-el-Beida”. AJM mention that for the 1365 B.C. “The evidence is a tablet from Tel Amarna in Egypt…”. SSG: “these writings most likely referred to the events of 1380 B.C. (1380 ±100) B.C., and to the period between 1700 B.C. and 1380 B.C, in accordance with other sources”, and they consider this as the LM tsunami.
1627-1600 B.C.	Late Minoan (LM) Thera (Santorini) eruption and tsunami. Date is according to FKF. DH question the finding of Pumice in Cyprus and Israel as a tsunamite of this event and we follow him.
1365 B.C.	AJM: “However, those tablets that refer to the flooding of the land by the sea and also by the rivers, do not necessarily imply that the fire and the flood occurred at the same time, and they do not mention any destruction or association with an earthquake. Archaeological excavations of the Bronze age site of Ugarit do reflect destruction of the city by earthquakes on several occasions (Schaeffer, 1939), but they provide no indication of seismic activity in this particular instance”. MAB note a deformed layer for 1365 B.C.
525 B.C.	This was listed by Am3 and BM who assign its M_L as 7.5 and mentioned that Sur and Sidon were destroyed. However, we could not trace back the ancient sources who reported that event. MAB note a deformed layer for 525 B.C.
198 B.C.	SSG mention an earthquake and a tsunami associated with a comet. In our opinion this is a duplication of the winter of 373/372 B.C. earthquake and tsunami (see also GCT and SSG) attested to by Aristotle (Meteorologica, 343b): “for the great comet that appeared at the time of the earthquake in Achaea and the tidal wave [tsunami], rose in the area of the equinoctial sunset [west] ... the great comet, mentioned earlier, appeared in the archonship of Asterius during the winter, in the west, when the weather was dry and frosty” (see also GCT, no. 024). This translation is from the catalogue of comets (Ba, p. 87) which does not list events between 203 and 176 B.C. This is also in accordance with Ye (p. 364).
Mid 2^nd Century B.C.: See Appendix 1.
92 02 28 B.C.	See 2^nd Century B.C. in Appendix 1.
A.D. 19	Listed by several authors (e.g., AAT, BM, Si, Wi) to affect Sidon and the Lebanese coast. However, the most “ancient” reference we have singled out for this event is Ar who does not refer back to any specific source. Ar writes (p. 178): “19 (A.D.). Asie Mineure, Syrie et Palestine. Sidon. 13 villes de la Bithynie. Plusieurs victimes. Grande durée. Sources historiques: Les histoires de la Palestine et les guides”. Ar probably muddles up the earthquake of 17 A.D., which hit 12 (or 13) cities in present-day western Turkey (and not of Bithinia), with another earthquake that occurred in Bithinia in 29 A.D. (or perhaps in 32 A.D.) and was also suggested by Ar to affect Judea and Jerusalem (see also GCT).
33	Slight damage, local effect and apparently small (AAT) although produced a deformed layer (KAE, MAB). Wi discusses it in light of the Crucifixion event. Am7: …”the earthquake at the Crucifixion is a spurious physical event.”
47	Affected Antioch only (GCT).
90	This is one of the several events that we see only in deformed layers (MAB). A remote and large earthquake could probably produce same deformed layers like a close and small (M<6) earthquake and therefore we did not include it.
112	AMA: “Archaeological evidence suggests early second century destruction at…”, however, we did not find written sources for this event. Deformed layer found by MAB but not in KAE.
115 12 13	Tsunami: We could not find this event in other sources than what Shal used. Most of the local tsunamis in our study area were limited and close to the earthquake area. Only the 11/1759 reached as far as the Nile delta. We therefore think that this event needs further investigation.
293-306	GCT mention an earthquake and a tsunami in Salamis (Cyprus) on 293-306, and an earthquake on 303/304 in Sidon, Tyre and Syria. BM reports an earthquake off coast Sur on 306. AAT and BM report a tsunami in Caesarea on 306 and Shal a doubted tsunami in winter 308. See list of doubtful tsunamis (table 2) for detailed explanation.
341	Affected Antioch only (GCT).
348/9	GCT: probably between 348 09 01 to 349 08 31, damage, although heavy, to Berytus (Beirut) only.
447	Archaeological evidence from Hammat Gader only (AAT). GCT: Earthquake on the night of 26 January, 447, in Constantinople, Turkey, and other places.
450-457	Affected Tripolis, Syria, only (GCT).
458 09 13-14	GCT: Affected Antioch only. The text of Severus of Antioch: “other were engulfed by the water of the sea or of the clouds”, seems to us too general to draw positive information on a tsunami.
500	Mentioned by BM. We could not find this event in original sources.
565	Mentioned by BM who relies on Si and Ws1. However, Ws1 on p.80 (followed by Si) refers to a work of the Arab polygraph al-Suyuti (Kashf al-salsalah) written at the beginning of the 16^th century and contains a list of earthquakes of the year 712 until 1499 A,D,. Ws1 made a systematic error as regards the chronology and did not convert the dates of the Egira, reported in al-Suyuti, into the Julian calendar; so thirty entries of his catalogue are brought forward by about six centuries. Willis himself (Ws2), and subsequently Am2, had pointed out this error, but these corrections were evidently not assimilated by the subsequent catalogue makers. For our case, the year 565 of the Egira corresponds to the period 25.09.1169 – 13.09.1170, thus it is the large earthquake of 29th June 1170.
580/581	Affected Antioch and a nearby suburb only (GCT).
587/588	a night in late October: Affected Antioch only (GCT).
634 09	GCT: Slight damage in Jerusalem and Bet-Shan. AAT: 631 or 632.
659 06	GCT: No mention of specific sites or casualties, only that “many places collapsed”. AAT. Being conservative in our approach, we did not include this event.
749 or 750	See Appendix 1, event 746-9
757 03 09	GCT: Collapse in three villages in Mesopotamia – out of our study area. AAT: 756 03 18.
765 05 03	AAT: Damage to one site only.
808	AAT: Damage only in Jerusalem
811	This date was reported by Am3 (p. 900, no. 38) and An3 as a doubtful tsunami and it seems a misprint for 881, as can be inferred from the fact that it follows the tsunami dated 859 (no. 37) and from the bibliographical reference that cite Si which indeed reports the date 881. AAT and SSG refer to the same event as Am3, 811=881. In any case, we follow the considerations of Am3, i.e. that this is a duplication of the 1303 tsunami. We conclude that the doubtful 811 tsunami is a misprint of the doubtful 881-2 tsunami and that the 881-2 is duplicated from the 1303 tsunami.
853 06 12 – 854 06 01	Damage to Tiberias only (GCT). AAT: 853+
881 05 16	The given area affected by this event do not allow to conclude a specific event along the DST. AMA: Hellenic Arc.
972	Damage mentioned to Antioch only (GCT).
1016	Reported strong in Jerusalem, no other reports, probably a local event.
1032 03 06	GC: confused with 1033 03 06 that occurred in Constantinople.
1034 01 04	GC: Arabic sources gave the date of 1033 12 05 as 1034 01 04. AAT: One of the main shocks during 1033/4 winter earthquake swarm.
1042	Could be moderate or large - reports only from Palmyra which is in the desert, not along the DST system. Although not tsunamigenic, it represents the seismogenic zone of the Syrian Arc in Syria.
1060	Roof of Al Aqsa mosque Collapsed, no other damage,probably a local event.
1086 04 18 – 1087 04 07	Eastern Syria, Iraq, Mesopotamia, probably outside the region of our study.
1091 09 26	Damage to Antioch only (GC).
1105 12 24	GC: Jerusalem, no damage.
1113 – 1117	Several events are mentioned to occur in southern Turkey and northern Syria and around Jerusalem in this time period (e.g., Am6, AAT, BM, GC).According to Am6, the strongest earthquake occurred on 1114 11 29, it was preceded by foreshocks on 1114 08 10 and 1114 11 13, and they “… are clearly associated with the East Anatolian fault zone…” We therefore did not include these in our list.GC (as well as AAT) suggests that the 1114 08 10 may have occurred in the region of Jerusalem causing no damage and the other two in southern Turkey (GC event of 1115 11 29 is 1114 11 29 of Am6, and possibly of 1115 12 25 of AAT). BM mentions that 1114 08 10 caused a tsunami in the north but this could not be substantiated by Am6. GC: On 1117 06 26 earthquake occurred in southern Lebanon, causing limited damage only. AAT considered this event to have happened in Jerusalem. The two events of 1113 07 18 and 1113 08 09, as mentioned by AAT, are below the damage threshold considered for our study and were not included here.
1151 09 28 and 1152 02 01	Too small, caused little damage.
1201+	Is excluded since it “… may be identical to the following one”, i.e. 1202 (AAT).
1258-1264	GC: Several earthquakes in Egypt and Syria, none of which caused considerable damage.
1284 10 13	Damage in Damascus only (GC).
1312 05 01	AMA: this event was taken by BM from 1212 05 01.
1322 01 20	GC: in Damascus, no damage.
1339 01 13 – 02 11	GC: Damage only to Tripoli, Lebanon.
1366 09 07 – 1367 08 27	GC: Safad, Israel, no damage.
1399 09 20	GC: Damascus, slight earthquake.
1402/3 11 16	AM2: erroneous location in Syria. It actually occurred in the Gulf of Corinth, Greece.
1403 12 18	GC: In Aleppo, north western Syria, but did not cause any damage.
1407 04 09 – 05	GC: Damage to Antioch only.
1481 05 03	Unclear if there was a separate earthquake and a tsunami in the Levant coast or a tsunami that arrived from far source. We follow GC that mention a large earthquake in Southern Aegean on 1481 05 03 and a tsunami in Rhodes and Antalya.
1493 08 18	BM mentions an earthquake in Kos island and a tsunami at Jaffa, GC mentions only an earthquake in Kos on 1493 10 18. They seem to relate to the same event, however, if a tsunami was generated in Kos it would have been expected to be noticed not only in Jaffa. We therefore question this tsunami.
1534	This is very probably a duplication of the earthquake/tsunami of 1546 01 14. AK: “Arvanitakis (1904), on the authority of Dositheos (1715), dates the event in 1534, and Willis (1928) copies the earthquakes of 1534 and 1546 from Arvanitakis (1904) and Perrey (1850) respectively, thus duplicating the event. Sieberg (1932) and later authors [...] add nothing but confusion”.
1537 01 07	AMA: Eastern Mediterranean, damage probably related to this event mentioned in Antioch only.
1568 10 10	AF: “..damage in Latakia […] a possible location of which would be between the Syrian coast and Cyprus.” It therefore seems to be too small and outside the region of our study.
1626 01 21	AF: Near Allepo. It is probably outside the region of this study.
1656 02	AMA: “… strong earthquake in Tripoli in Libya destroyed almost half its houses […] Later authors place this event in Tripoli in Syria. AAT: Strong earthquake in Syria, Felt in Palestine. BM: Tripoli in Lebanon. MAB note a deformed layer for this event and it supports the occurrence of an earthquake on that time not far away from the Dead Sea. However, we did not include it here because of the limited damage.
1712	AAT: Limited damage in Jerusalem only.
1722-23	AF: Damage and casualties in Allepo only.
1726 04 15	AF: Near Allepo, probably outside the region of our study.
1752 07 21	Earthquake and tsunami are mentioned by many writers, probably starting from Si, however, as noted by Am3 “no authority is quoted”. This event should be further studied.
1802	AAT, SDM: Limited damage only, below the threshold entry to our list.
1896	SDM, AAT: Several earthquakes in Syria (February 20, May 12, May 14, June 29), no serious damage.
1900 01 05	AAT: Northern Israel, no damage.
1903 03 29	AAT: Israel, no damage.

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List of references

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Reference abbreviations

AA:	Ambraseys and Adams, 1993.
AAT:	Amiran, Arieh and Turcotte, 1994.
AB:	Ambraseys and Barazangi,1989.
AE:	Altinok and Ersoy, 2000.
AF1:	Ambraseys and Finkel, 1993.
AF2:	Ambraseys and Finkel, 1995.
AFF:	Austin, Franz and Frost, 2000.
AJ:	Ambraseys and Jackson, 1998.
AJM:	Ambraseys, Jackson and Melville, 2002.
AK:	Ambraseys and Karcz,1992.
AM1:	Ambraseys and Melville, 1988.
AM2:	Ambraseys and Melville, 1995.
AMA:	Ambraseys,Melville and Adams, 1994.
Am1:	Ambraseys, 1960.
Am2:	Ambraseys, 1962a.
Am3:	Ambraseys, 1962b.
Am4:	Ambraseys, 1989.
Am5:	Ambraseys, 1997.
Am6:	Ambraseys, 2004.
Am7:	Ambraseys, 2005a.
Am8:	Ambraseys, 2005b.
Am9:	Ambraseys, 2006.
An1:	Antonopoulos, 1979.
An2:	Antonopoulos, 1980a.
An3:	Antonopoulos, 1980b.
An4:	Antonopoulos, 1980c.
An5:	Antonopoulos, 1980d.
An6:	Antonopoulos, 1980e.
An7:	Antonopoulos, 1980f.
An8:	Antonopoulos, 1992.
Ar:	Arvanitakis, 1904.
AW:	Ambraseys and White, 1997.
AZP:	Amit et al., 1999
Ba:	Barrett, 1978.
Be:	Bentor, 1989.
BGF:	Boschi et al., 2000.
BM:	Ben-Menahem, 1991.
BMN:	Ben-Menahem et al., 1976.
CA:	Cita and Aloisi, 2000.
DEK:	Daëron et al., 2004.
DH:	Dominey-Howes, 2002.
DKT:	Daëron et al., 2005.
DSM	Darawcheh et al., 2000.
EKE:	Enzel, Kadan and Eyal, 2000.
EMA:	Ellenblum et al., 1998.
ERP:	El-Sayed et al., 2000.
FKF:	Friedrich et al., 2006.
FP:	Fokaefs and Papadopoulos, 2006.
FW:	Freedman and Welch, 1994.
GBC:	Guidoboni, Bernardini and Comastri, 2004a.
GBCB:	Guidoboni et al., 2004b.
GC:	Guidoboni and Comastri,2005.
GCT:	Guidoboni, Comastri and Traina, 1994.
GG:	Goldsmith and Gilboa, 1986
GMDH:	Gomez et al., 2003.
GMDS:	Gomez et al.,2001.
ISC:	International Seismological Center, 2001.
Ka:	Karcz, 2004.
KAD:	Klinger et al., 2000.
KAE:	Ken-Tor et al., 2001.
MAB:	Migowski et al., 2004.
MAE:	Marco et al., 1997.
MDM:	McKenzie et al., 1970.
Me:	Mészáros, 1978.
MGS:	Meghraoui et al., 2003.
MH:	McCoy and Heiken, 2000.
MHH:	Marco et al., 2003.
MIK:	Minoura et al., 2000.
MM:	Marinos and Melidonis,1971.
MRH:	Marco et al., 2005.
Pa:	Papadopoulos, 2001 (website).
PC:	Papadopoulos and Chalkis (1984).
PC1:	Pararas-Carayannis, 1988.
PC2	Pararas-Carayannis, 1992.
Pe:	Perrey, 1850.
PKH:	Papazachos et al., 1985.
PaPa:	Papazachos and Papaioannou, 1999.
PePa:	Perissoratis and Papadopoulos, 1999.
PT:	Poirier and Taher, 1980.
RGB:	Reinhardt et al., 2006.
Sal:	Salamon, 2005.
SAN:	Shapira, Avni and Nur, 1993.
Shal:	Shalem,1956.
Shap:	Shapira 1979.
SHG:	Salamon et al., 2003.
SDM:	Sbeinati, Darawcheh and Mouty, 2004.
Si:	Sieberg, 1932.
SSG:	Soloviev et al., 2000.
VD:	Van Dorn, 1987
Wi:	Williams, 2004.
Ws1:	Willis, 1928
Ws2:	Willis, 1933
Wu:	Wust, 1997.
Ye:	Yeomans, 1991.
Yok:	Yokoyama, 1978.
ZAB:	Zilberman et al., 2004.
ZAP:	Zilberman et al., 2005.

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Electronic Supplement to Tsunami Hazard evaluation to the Eastern Mediterranean: Historical Analysis and Selected Modeling

by Amos Salamon, Thomas Rockwell, Steven N. Ward, Emanuela Guidoboni, and Alberto Comastri

Tsunami scenarios

Lists of tsunamis and earthquakes

Appendices

References

Table 3

List of references

Reference abbreviations

Electronic Supplement to
Tsunami Hazard evaluation to the Eastern Mediterranean: Historical Analysis and Selected Modeling