The 1481 Rhodes earthquake occurred at 3:00 in the morning on 3 May. It triggered a small
tsunami, which caused local flooding. There were an estimated 30,000 casualties. It was the largest of a series of
earthquakes that affected
Rhodes, starting on 15 March 1481, continuing until January 1482.
Tectonic setting
The island of Rhodes lies on part of the boundary between the
Aegean Sea and
African plates. The tectonic setting is complex, with a
Neogene history that includes periods of
thrusting,
extension and
strike slip. It sits in what is known as the
Hellenic arc,[1] which is in an area that is highly vulnerable to seismic activity, and historically always has been, dating back to the
226 BC Rhodes earthquake.[2] Currently the island of Rhodes is undergoing a counter-clockwise rotation (17° ±5° in the last 800,000 years) associated with the south Aegean sinistral
strike-slip fault system.[3] The island had also been tilted to the northwest during the
Pleistocene, an uplift attributed to a
reverse fault lying just to the east of Rhodes.
Damage
Sources refer to destruction in Rhodes Town; the
Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes was sufficiently damaged to require immediate rebuilding (Rhodes was at the time under siege by the Turks).[4] The damage caused by the earthquakes led to a wave of rebuilding after 1481.[5] Damage from the tsunami was said to be greater than from the earthquake. The tsunami caused a large ship to break free from its moorings. It (or another ship) later sank with loss of all its crew after running onto a reef.[6] There were an estimated 30,000 casualties.[6]
Characteristics
Tsunami
The tsunami appears to have been relatively minor, estimated at a maximum 1.8 m. However, it was observed on the
Levantine coasts and a
tsunami sediment layer found at
Dalaman, on the southwest coast of Turkey. Although the studies on
sediment transport from tsunamis are limited, it is probable that the tsunami can be dated 1473 ± 46. The sediment found and studied appears to be consistent with the aforementioned tsunami.[7][8]
Earthquake
There was a major
foreshock on 15 March of that year. Following the mainshock on 3 May, earthquakes (presumably
aftershocks) continued until January 1482, with large aftershocks on 5 May, 12 May, 3 October and 18 December. The estimated magnitude for the mainshock is 7.1 on the
surface wave magnitude scale.[6]
References
^Yolsal-Çevikbilen, Seda; Taymaz, Tuncay (16 April 2012). "Earthquake source parameters along the Hellenic subduction zone and numerical simulations of historical tsunamis in the Eastern Mediterranean". Tectonophysics. 536–537: 61–100.
Bibcode:
2012Tectp.536...61Y.
doi:
10.1016/j.tecto.2012.02.019.
^Papadopoulos, Gerassimos A.; Gràcia, Eulàlia; Urgeles, Roger; Sallares, Valenti; De Martini, Paolo Marco; Pantosti, Daniela; González, Mauricio; Yalciner, Ahmet C.; Mascle, Jean; Sakellariou, Dimitris; Salamon, Amos; Tinti, Stefano; Karastathis, Vassilis; Fokaefs, Anna; Camerlenghi, Angelo; Novikova, Tatyana; Papageorgiou, Antonia (1 August 2014). "Historical and pre-historical tsunamis in the Mediterranean and its connected seas: Geological signatures, generation mechanisms and coastal impacts". Marine Geology. 354: 81–109.
Bibcode:
2014MGeol.354...81P.
doi:
10.1016/j.margeo.2014.04.014.
hdl:10261/101588.
^
abcNational Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (1972).
"Significant Earthquake Information". NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.
doi:
10.7289/V5TD9V7K. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
^Alpar, Bedri; Ünlü, Selma; Altınok, Yıldız; Özer, Naşide; Aksu, Abdullah (28 December 2010). "New approaches in assessment of tsunami deposits in Dalaman (SW Turkey)". Nat Hazards. 63 (1): 181–195.
doi:
10.1007/s11069-010-9692-5.
S2CID128768900.