Tsunami Observation Points Database in Eastern Mediterranean

Knowledge of the tsunami observation points of past tsunamis is of great importance since it may help in studies of several kinds, such as better understanding of the source type, determination of the inundation area, and verification of tsunami simulation results. Plenty of information is available about the Tsunami Observation Points (TOPs) of many historical and modern tsunamis observed in Greece and in other areas of the eastern Mediterranean region. The TOPs Database is a systematic compilation of such kind of information. For a specific tsunami event, the TOPs DB includes the source epicenter, the TOPs names and the corresponding geographical coordinates, the names of the localities, and a characterization of the tsunami intensity level, K, in each TOP. K has been estimated according to the 12-grade tsunami intensity scale by Papadopoulos and Imamura (2001). In its current form the TOPs DB provides information about 61 TOPs related to the 9 July 1956 large seismic tsunami generated in the south Aegean Sea. Information about the TOPs and the impact of the wave in each TOP can be found in the publications by Galanopoulos (1957), Ambraseys (1960), Papadopoulos et al. (2005) and Okal et al. (2009). The tsunami intensities have been estimated by Dr G.A. Papadopoulos and Dr I. Triantafyllou. Earthquake source parameters have been adopted from the ISC-GEM (2023) catalogue. The TOPs DB will be gradually expanded with the aim to finally include all the known tsunami events to have occurred in Greece and in other eastern Mediterranean regions in modern and historical times.