Catalogue of tsunamis on the Spanish coast

Citation: National Geographic Institute (IGN). Spanish Seismic Catalog. https://doi.org/10.7419/162.04.2023

Region Nomenclature used to identify the region where the tsunami source occurred (Maramai et al., 2014)
ATAtlantic Ocean
M3Western Mediterranean
 
Cause Two-letters code specifying the cause of the tsunami
TTEarthquake in land
TSSubmarine earthquake
DSTSubmarine landslide triggered by an earthquake
?Unknown cause
 
Validity Parameter that indicates the reliability of a tsunami event in the past based on the assessment of the quality of available data on the generating cause, the description of the tsunami and contemporary bibliographic material (Tinti et al., 2004).
From this indicator, the end user can assess the reliability of historical tsunamis for which little information is available. It ranges from 0 to 4:
0Very improbable tsunami
1Improbable tsunami
2Questionable tsunami
3Probable tsunami
4Definite tsunami
Those tsunamis with validity 0 and 1 are excluded from the catalogue.
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Date Location Source Tsunami information References
More info
Day Hour Region Subregion Cause Latitude (°) Longitude (°) Depth (km) Maximum observed intensity
Magnitude (Mw) Description Validity Number of observations in Spain Maximum wave height (m) in Spain Intensity S-A
Intensity P-I
Date Source Tsunami information
21/05/2003 18:44:21 M3 North Algeria TS 36.99 3.70 12 9.50 6.8 Damage to boats in the Balearic Islands (Spain). Recorded by tide gauges in the western Mediterranean sea 4 17 1.00 3 4 ISC-GEM (2017) ISC-GEM (2017), IGN (2017) Maramai et al. (2014)
10/10/1980 12:25:23 M3 North Algeria TT 36.15 1.45 5 9.00 7.1 Recorded by tide gauges in Algeciras, Málaga, Almería, Cartagena and Alicante (Spain) 4 6 0.35 1 2 IGN (2017) Dziewonski et al. (1981), Ekström et al. (2012) Soloviev et al. (2000)
26/05/1975 09:11:51 AT Gloria Fault TS 35.96 -17.58 15 6.00 7.8 Recorded by tide gauges in the Azores Islands (Portugal) and mainland Portugal; Canary Islands, Balearic Islands and mainland Spain; Morocco and South West England 4 7 0.10 1 2 ISC-GEM (2017) ISC-GEM (2017), IGN (2017) Kaabouben et al. (2008), Campos Romero (1992)
17/07/1969 ??:??:?? AT ? 37.00 -12.00 Recorded by tide gauges in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain); Angra do Heroísmo (Azores Islands, Portugal); Lagos and Cascais (mainland Portugal) 2 2 0.19 1 1 Baptista & Miranda (2009) Baptista & Miranda (2009) Baptista & Miranda (2009)
28/02/1969 02:40:34 AT Azores-Gibraltar TS 36.05 -10.63 31 8.50 7.8 Recorded by tide gauges in the Tagus estuary, Cascais, Lagos, Faro (mainland Portugal) and Horta (Azores Islands, Portugal); Casablanca with a maximum height of 0.6 m (Morocco); Cádiz and Canary Islands (Spain) 4 9 0.48 2 3 Buforn et al. (2020) Fukao (1973), Buforn et al. (2020) Baptista et al. (1992), Baptista & Miranda (2009)
09/09/1954 01:04:37 M3 North Algeria DST/TT 36.28 1.47 10.50 6.7 Recorded by tide gauges in Alicante, Malaga, Ceuta and Algeciras (Spain) 4 4 0.2 1 2 Mezcua & Martínez Solares (1983) Mezcua & Martínez Solares (1983), Hamdache et al. (2010) Soloviev et al. (2000)
21/08/1856 21:45:?? M3 North Algeria TS 36.82 5.79 8.00 6.6 Sea level rise and damage in the port of Mahón (Balearic Islands, Spain). Withdrawal and sea level rise of up to 4 m in several cities of Algeria 4 1 3 5 Harbi et al. (2010) Harbi et al. (2010) Harbi et al. (2010)
13/01/1804 17:53:?? M3 Alboran Sea TS 36.70 -3.10 7.50 6.1 Sea withdrawal in the Peñón de la Gomera and on the coasts of Granada or Almería (Spain) 2 1 3 4 Martínez Solares & Mezcua (2002) IGN (2013) Rodríguez de la Torre (1993)
09/10/1790 01:15:?? M3 North Algeria TT 35.90 -0.60 9.50 6.7 Tsunami in Almería and Cartagena (Spain); and in Oran (Algeria) 2 2 1.8 3 5 Buforn et al. (2019) Kaabouben et al. (2009), Buforn et al. (2019) López Marinas & Salord (1990)
31/03/1761 12:10:?? AT Azores-Gibraltar TS 34.50 -13.00 9.00 8.5 Tsunami in Lisbon and Azores Islands (Portugal); Cádiz, Puerto de Santa María, Ayamonte and Finisterre (Spain); Barbados, Ireland and England 2 5 3 4 Baptista et al. (2006) Baptista et al. (2006) Rodríguez de la Torre (1997), Baptista & Miranda (2009)
01/11/1755 10:16:?? AT Azores-Gibraltar TS 36.50 -10.00 10.00 8.5 Catastrophic tsunami in the south and west of the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco. The tsunami was observed on the North Atlantic coast (from Barbados to the United Kingdom) 4 38 13 6 9 Martínez Solares & Mezcua (2002) Martínez Solares & Mezcua (2002) Maramai et al. (2014)
09/10/1680 07:??:?? M3 Málaga TT 36.66 -4.77 40 8.50 Rough sea in Málaga (Spain) 2 1 5 3 5 Martínez Solares & Mezcua (2002) Goded et al. (2008) Goded (2006), AHN (1680), BN (1680), BUG (1680)
22/09/1522 10:00:?? M3 Almería TT 36.97 -2.67 8.50 Tsunami in Almería (Spain) 2 1 3 6 Martínez Solares & Mezcua (2002) Martínez Solares & Mezcua (2002) Galbis Rodríguez(1932), Reicherter & Hübscher (2007), Kaabouben et al. (2009)