![Tyrrhenian Sea map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Tyrrhenian_Sea_map.png)
The 1343 tsunami struck the
Tyrrhenian Sea
The Tyrrhenian Sea (; it, Mar Tirreno , french: Mer Tyrrhénienne , sc, Mare Tirrenu, co, Mari Tirrenu, scn, Mari Tirrenu, nap, Mare Tirreno) is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian pe ...
and
Bay of Naples
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...
on 25 November 1343. Underground shocks were felt in
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
and caused significant damage and loss of lives. Of major note was a
tsunami
A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...
created by the earthquake which destroyed many ships in Naples and destroyed many ports along the
Amalfi Coast
The Amalfi Coast ( it, Costiera amalfitana) is a stretch of coastline in southern Italy overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Gulf of Salerno. It is located south of the Sorrentine Peninsula and north of the Cilentan Coast.
Celebrated worldwide ...
including
Amalfi
Amalfi (, , ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramatic c ...
itself. The effects of the tsunami were observed by the poet
Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists.
Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited w ...
, whose ship was forced to return to port, and recorded in the fifth book of his ''
Epistolae familiares
''Epistolae familiares'' is the title of a collection of letters of Petrarch which he edited during his lifetime. He originally called the collection ''Epistolarum mearum ad diversos liber'' (''"a book of my letters to different people"'') but th ...
''.
A 2019 study attributes the event to a massive submarine landslide (possibly greater than 1 km
3), caused by flank collapse of the
Stromboli volcano.
See also
*
List of earthquakes in Italy
This is a list of earthquakes in Italy that had epicentres in Italy, or significantly affected the country. The highest seismicity hazard in Italy was concentrated in the central-southern part of the peninsula, along the Apennine Mountains, Apen ...
*
List of historical earthquakes
Historical earthquakes is a list of significant earthquakes known to have occurred prior to the beginning of the 20th century. As the events listed here occurred before routine Seismometer, instrumental recordings, they rely mainly on the analys ...
*
List of tsunamis in Europe
References
Naples earthquake
1343
1343 in Europe
14th century in the Kingdom of Naples
Naples earthquake
Naples earthquake
Joanna I of Naples
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