The 1904 Samos earthquake struck

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

on August 11 with

moment magnitude The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mw, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. It was defined in a 1979 pape ...

of 6.8 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Four people were killed.

Damage and casualties

The earthquake registered a magnitude of 6.8 on the

moment magnitude scale The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mw, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. It was defined in a 1979 pape ...

. Between the main shock and an aftershock that followed three days later, 540 houses were destroyed on

Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greece, Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a se ...

, then an autonomous part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. Four people were killed. Damage extended to

Patmos Patmos ( el, Πάτμος, ) is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. It is famous as the location where John of Patmos received the visions found in the Book of Revelation of the New Testament, and where the book was written. One of the northern ...

and

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

, while shaking from the earthquake reached from offshore

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of masti ...

and Santorini to

Ödemiş Ödemiş is a district of İzmir Province of Turkey, as well as the name of its central town (urban population 75,577 as of 2012), located 113 km southeast of the city of İzmir. About 4 km north of Ödemiş town are the ruins of Hypa ...

and Aydın in Turkey.

Geology

Along its source fault, the earthquake created of ruptured rock and had an average displacement of . It originated from oblique-slip faulting. The island of Samos disconnected from Anatolia, and the strait between them is less than in width. The island itself is a horst, and a large fault runs along the island's NW-W coast.

Tectonic uplift Tectonic uplift is the geologic uplift of Earth's surface that is attributed to plate tectonics. While isostatic response is important, an increase in the mean elevation of a region can only occur in response to tectonic processes of crustal th ...

is noticeable at the shores of Samos, likely linked to historic earthquakes.

Seismic history

Within the last two centuries, Samos has experienced multiple powerful earthquakes registering above magnitude 6.0. Six such earthquakes were recorded during the 19th century and two more in the 20th. Analysis indicates three earthquakes before the 19th century in circa 200 BC, 47, and 1761. An earthquake in 1476 may have devastated the island to the extent that its occupants, the Genovese, evacuated. Uplift from the 6th century implies another earthquake circa 500.

References

{{Earthquakes in Greece

Samos earthquake Earthquakes in Greece History of Samos August 1904 events 1904 disasters in Greece

Damage and casualties

Geology

Seismic history

See also

References