Editing Tsunami (section)

==History==
{{see also|List of tsunamis}}

[[File:1755 Lisbon earthquake.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|[[1755 Lisbon earthquake|Lisbon earthquake and tsunami]] in November 1755]]

Japan has the longest [[recorded history]] of tsunamis.<ref>{{cite news | last1 = Jaffe | first1 = Bruce| last2 = Richmond | first2 = Bruce| last3 = Gibbons | first3 = Helen|last4=Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center| title=International Team Studies Tsunami Deposits in Japan to Improve Understanding and Mitigation of Tsunami Hazards |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey| date=3 June 2011 | url=https://www.usgs.gov/centers/pcmsc/news/international-team-studies-tsunami-deposits-japan-improve-understanding-and | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250316105731/https://www.usgs.gov/centers/pcmsc/news/international-team-studies-tsunami-deposits-japan-improve-understanding-and | archive-date=16 March 2025 | url-status=live}}</ref>

[[426 BC Malian Gulf tsunami|As early as 426 BC]] the [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] historian [[Thucydides]] inquired in his book ''[[History of the Peloponnesian War]]'' about the causes of tsunami, and was the first to argue that ocean earthquakes must be the cause.<ref name="Thucydides 3.89.1-4">[[Thucydides]]: [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Thuc.+3.89.1 “A History of the Peloponnesian War”, 3.89.1–4]</ref><ref name="Smid, T. C. 103f.">{{cite journal|last=Smid|first=T. C.|title='Tsunamis' in Greek Literature|volume=17|date=April 1970|pages=100–104|journal=Greece & Rome|issue=1|doi=10.1017/S0017383500017393}}</ref> The oldest human record of a tsunami dates back to [[479 BC Potidaea earthquake|479 BC]], in the Greek colony of [[Potidaea]], thought to be triggered by an earthquake. The tsunami may have saved the colony from an invasion by the [[Achaemenid Empire]].<ref name="Smid, T. C. 103f." />

<blockquote>The cause, in my opinion, of this phenomenon must be sought in the earthquake. At the point where its shock has been the most violent the sea is driven back, and suddenly recoiling with redoubled force, causes the inundation. Without an earthquake I do not see how such an accident could happen.<ref name="Thucydides 3.89.5">[[Thucydides]]: [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Thuc.+3.89.1 “A History of the Peloponnesian War”, 3.89.5]</ref></blockquote>

The [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] historian [[Ammianus Marcellinus]] (''Res Gestae'' 26.10.15–19) described the typical sequence of a tsunami, including an incipient earthquake, the sudden retreat of the sea and a following gigantic wave, after the [[365 Crete earthquake|365 AD tsunami]] devastated [[Alexandria]].<ref name="Kelly, Gavin (2004)">{{cite journal|doi=10.2307/4135013|last=Kelly|first=Gavin|date=2004|title=Ammianus and the Great Tsunami|journal=The Journal of Roman Studies|volume=94|pages=141–167|issue=141|jstor=4135013|s2cid=160152988|url=https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/ammianus-and-the-great-tsunami(635a4807-14c9-4044-9caa-8f8e3005cb24).html|hdl=20.500.11820/635a4807-14c9-4044-9caa-8f8e3005cb24|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Stanley, Jean-Daniel & Jorstad, Thomas F. (2005)">Stanley, Jean-Daniel & Jorstad, Thomas F. (2005), "[http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2005AM/finalprogram/abstract_96386.htm The 365 A.D. Tsunami Destruction of Alexandria, Egypt: Erosion, Deformation of Strata and Introduction of Allochthonous Material] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525095324/https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2005AM/finalprogram/abstract_96386.htm |date=2017-05-25 }}"</ref>

Tsunamis are an often underestimated hazard in the [[Mediterranean Sea]] and parts of Europe. Of historical and current (with regard to risk assumptions) importance are the [[1755 Lisbon earthquake|1755 Lisbon earthquake and tsunami]] (which was caused by the [[Azores–Gibraltar transform fault]]), the [[1783 Calabrian earthquakes]], each causing several tens of thousands of deaths and the [[1908 Messina earthquake]] and tsunami. The tsunami claimed more than 123,000 lives in Sicily and Calabria and is among the deadliest natural disasters in modern Europe. The [[Storegga Slide]] in the Norwegian Sea and some examples of [[tsunamis affecting the British Isles]] refer to landslide and [[meteotsunami]]s, predominantly and less to earthquake-induced waves.

The destruction caused by the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami]] event mark it as the most devastating of its kind in modern times, killing around 230,000 people.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30602159 Indian Ocean tsunami anniversary: Memorial events held] 26 December 2014, BBC News</ref> The [[Sumatra]]n region is also accustomed to tsunamis, due to earthquakes of varying magnitudes that occur regularly off the coast of the island.<ref>[http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/the-10-biggest-tsunamis-in-history.htm/ The 10 most destructive tsunamis in history] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204022559/http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/the-10-biggest-tsunamis-in-history.htm |date=2013-12-04 }}, Australian Geographic, March 16, 2011.</ref>