1867 Virgin Islands earthquake and tsunami

Earthquake and tsunami in the Caribbean May 2025 February 2025 1867 Virgin Islands earthquake >50–"hundreds" dead 6.5 h yesM 6.5 – Virgin Islands Region https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/eqh18680317111500000/executive United States Geological Survey-Advanced National Seismic System 4 April 2021 Possible 18.3 m 9 Extensive Greater Antilles & Lesser Antilles 7.5 s yes 14:45 18 November 1867 eqh18671118184500000 1867-11-18 18:45:00 Middle America 18.2 -65.0 inline,title yes Epicenters of earthquakes around Puerto Rico in last 100 years.jpg Map of earthquakes around Puerto Rico. The epicenter of the 1867 earthquake is marked in a star located on the right. eqh18680317111500000 1868-03-17 11:15:00 The 1867 Virgin Islands earthquake and tsunami occurred on November 18, at 14.45 in the Anegada Passage about 20 km southwest of Saint Thomas, Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands). The s 7.5 earthquake came just 20 days after the devastating San Narciso Hurricane in the same region. Tsunamis from this earthquake were some of the highest ever recorded in the Lesser Antilles. Wave heights exceeded 10 m in some islands in the Lesser Antilles. The earthquake and tsunami resulted in no more than 50 fatalities,Karen Fay O'loughlin James F. Lander 10.1007/978-94-017-0321-5 Caribbean Tsunamis: A 500-Year History from 1498-1998 2003 Springer, Dordrecht 978-94-017-0321-5 263 https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-94-017-0321-5 Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research although hundreds of casualties were reported.Landslide Deposits, Cookie Bites, and Crescentic Fracturing Along the Northern Puerto Rico-Virgin Islands Margin: Implications for Potential Tsunamigenesis Fall Meeting 2003 https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003AGUFMOS22A1148H/abstract Hearne M. E Grindlay N. R. American Geophysical Union 2003 2003AGUFMOS22A1148H Mann P. Tectonic setting The U.S.Virgin Islands are part of the Greater Antilles that lies parallel to the Puerto Rico Trench; an oblique subduction zone where the North American plate is underthrusted beneath the Caribbean plate along the Lesser Antilles subduction zone transits to strike-slip along the Septentrional-Oriente fault zone. Because of this transition, the overriding Caribbean plate begins to extend, and normal faults starts to break out as a result. Subduction and shallow crustal faults pose earthquake and tsunami risk to the area, although the Lesser Antilles megathrust has not seen any major earthquake along its subduction interface. A possible earthquake along the megathrust may have been the w 8.3, 1843 Guadeloupe earthquake. Earthquake The earthquake consisted of two shocks, 10 minutes apart, and the two tsunamis came 10 minutes after each shock. Shaking reportedly lasted a minute in Frederiksted, where the earthquake stirred a dust cloud that blanketed the town.Watington Roy 19 November 2013 The Terrible Earthquake and Tsunami of Nov. 18, 1867 https://stthomassource.com/content/2013/11/19/terrible-earthquake-and-tsunami-nov-18-1867/#:~:text=Outcomes%20of%20the%20Nov.,ships%20or%20on%20the%20shore. 10 December 2020 The Saint Thomas Source US Virgin Islands Shaking reached intensity IX on the Rossi–Forel scale in the Danish West Indies. Rossi–Forel IX-level shaking was also felt on the British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. Survivor accounts stated that there were two distinct shocks 10–15 minutes apart.Significant Earthquake Database https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/earthquake/event-more-info/2120 National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS) National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA 10.7289/V5TD9V7K 1972 Data Set On the Modified Mercalli intensity scale, the intensity ranged from VIII (Severe) to X (Extreme).M 7.3 – The 1867 Virgin Islands Earthquake https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/eqh18671118184500000/executive United States Geological Survey-Advanced National Seismic System 4 April 2021 In Puerto Rico, the earthquake heavily damaged portions of the city wall of San Juan, which prompted the demolition of its southeastern portion afterwards.Historia de Puerta de Tierra http://www.puertadetierra.info/indicehist.asp Johnny Torres Rivera September 8, 2023 June 1, 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090601164325/http://www.puertadetierra.info/indicehist.asp Fajardo, the largest town in Puerto Rico within the direct vicinity of the earthquake, completely lost its church and several of its civic structures.Diocese of Fajardo-Humacao http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dfahu.html 2011-10-13 Catholic-Hierarchy The historic parish churches of Bayamón, Cidra and Juana Díaz were also damaged as a result of the earthquakes.Mari Mut José A. http://edicionesdigitales.info/PueblosPR/pueblospr.pdf Los Pueblos de Puerto Rico y Las Iglesias de Sus Plazas [The Pueblos of Puerto Rico, and the Churches of its Plazas] 2013-08-28 40–42 es 2021-05-16 https://web.archive.org/web/20201214203116/http://edicionesdigitales.info/PueblosPR/pueblospr.pdf 2020-12-14 liveParroquia Nuestra Señora del Carmen - PRAHA · FLMM https://prahadigital.org/s/flmm/item?uid=a369fdee-292b-11ef-a756-0242ac190002 2025-09-01 prahadigital.org esPuerto Rico State Historic Preservation Office Iglesia San Juan Batista y San Ramón Nonato April 1, 2014 http://www2.pr.gov/oech/oech/RegistroNacional/Documents/Fichas%20RNLH%20Santillana/Iglesia%20San%20Juan%20Batista%20y%20San%20Ramon%20Nonato.pdf summary sheet Spanish https://web.archive.org/web/20170608204137/http://www2.pr.gov/oech/oech/RegistroNacional/Documents/Fichas%20RNLH%20Santillana/Iglesia%20San%20Juan%20Batista%20y%20San%20Ramon%20Nonato.pdf June 8, 2017 June 8, 2017. An aftershock with a magnitude of h 6.5 occurred on March 17, 1868. There is uncertainty about its timing of occurrence, either 07:15 or 19:15 local time as several reports documented it happening in the morning while one reported it in the "evening". Most likely it occurred in the morning and "evening" was a typographical error. It was felt with a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong) and a 1.2 m tsunami accompanied the shock. Tsunami 200px|thumb|right|The USS De Soto after repairs seen in Puerto Rico in 1868. At Saint Thomas, the first wave was described as a "straight white wall, about 4.6–7.0 m" which advanced to the harbor, ten minutes after the earthquake. The wave picked up steamers along the way and broke to just a few feet in front of the town. The run-up height was 9.1 m across the town. A smaller wave came shortly and penetrated further in the island. Thirty people perished when the waves swept them away. Run-ups of 6.0 m were recorded at Charlotte Amalie, where 12 people died.costas The 1867 Virgin Island Tsunami http://www.tsunamiresearchcenter.com/tsunami-archive/the-1867-virgin-island-tsunami/ 10 Dec 2020 Tsunami Research Center USC The La Plata, a steamship serving the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was swamped by the tsunami, killing nearly all of its crew on board. Little Saba saw the highest waves at 15.2 m. A US Navy ship which had arrived the day before, the USS De Soto, was ripped from her moorings and beached. The second wave then brought the ship with her hull seriously damaged back to sea.Staff Consortium 12 Jan 2020 In 1867, a Magnitude 7.5 Earthquake Caused Tsunamis in the USVI (Danish West Indies) That Destroyed Charlotte Amalie and the Frederiksted Waterfront Virgin Islands Consortium https://viconsortium.com/vi-top_stories/virgin-islands-in-1867-a-magnitude-7-5-earthquake-caused-tsunamis-in-usvi-that-destroyed-charlotte-amalie-and-the-frederiksted-waterfront#:~:text=Forego%20Holiday%20Gatherings-,In%201867%2C%20a%20Magnitude%207.5%20Earthquake%20Caused%20Tsunamis%20in%20the,Amalie%20and%20the%20Frederiksted%20Waterfront 10 Dec 2020 At Christiansted, Saint Croix, the 7–9 m waves drowned five people and inundated the island up to 90 m inland. The tsunami destroyed 20 houses and stranded numerous boats inland. In some parts of the island, the waves reached a run-up height of 14.6 m.Tsunami Event USA TERRITORY VIRGIN ISLANDS https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/tsunami/event-more-info/966 10 Dec 2020 NGDC Frederiksted on the same island was hit by waves up to 7.6 m. The surging seawater beached many vessels including a US Navy ship, USS Monongahela along the beaches of Frederiksted.USS Monongahela (1863-1908) https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/nmusn/explore/photography/ships-us/ships-usn-m/uss-monongahela-1863-1908.html 10 December 2020 National Museum of the U.S. NavyWATLINGTON ROY A. An 1867-Class Tsunami: Potential Devastation in the Us Virgin Islands 2006 http://ocovi.azurewebsites.net/documents/Anticipating1867Paper2006fin_wcitat.pdf Caribbean Tsunami Hazard 255–267 10.1142/9789812774613_0013 978-981-256-535-8 The tsunami measured 12 m on Water Island. Meanwhile, at Road Town, British Virgin Islands, the waves were between 1.2 m and 1.5 m meters which swept away much of the low-lying towns. In Antigua, the sea level rose 2.4–3.0 m at Saint John harbor. Eyewitnesses in Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe saw the sea receding and returning, flooding the place up to 2.0 m. Deshayes was hit with very high waves, an estimated 18.3 m in height and a length of 5 km. The tsunami swept away many personal belongings and items. In Saint-Rose however, the waves were determined to be no more than 10.0 m when a church said to house fleeing survivors located 10 m above sea-level remained undamaged. In Puerto Rico, waves of 1–6 m swept through the island's coast. Scientific analysis Little research has been made to study the earthquake and tsunami in detail. Tsunami deposits on Saint Thomas left in salt ponds and lagoons have not been extensively studied. Although the Caribbean has over 124 reported tsunamis or tsunami-like events since 1498, 27 of them have resulted in fatalities.Paul Russell Tsunami Stratigraphy in a Salt Pond on St. Croix, US Virgin Islands 2018 BS https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send?accession=osu1524156328491204&disposition=inline Ohio State University A study by Zahibo and others published a surface-wave magnitude of 7.5 (s) at a hypocenter depth of less than 30 km. The source of the earthquake is located in the Anegada Passage.James F. Lander Lowell S. Whiteside Patricia A. Lockridge A brief history of tsunami in the Caribbean Sea Science of Tsunami Hazards 2002 20 2 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/38112210 The Reid Fault located 17 km south of Saint Thomas on the northern scarp of the Anegada Trough runs for seven tens of kilometers may have ruptured and produced slip no greater than ten meter.Narcisse Zahibo Efim Pelinovsky Ahmet Yalciner Andrey Kurkin Andrey Koselkov Andrey Zaitsev 16 December 2002 The 1867 Virgin Island Tsunami https://www.researchgate.net/publication/29619714 Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 3 609–621 The rupture may have initiated at a depth of 3 km along this thrust fault. An underwater landslide triggered by movement on the seafloor would likely be the primary source of the tsunami as the run-up heights of the tsunami were unusually high, and these waves arrived almost immediately after the quake.Roy Barkan Uri ten Brink June 2010 Tsunami Simulations of the 1867 Virgin Island Earthquake: Constraints on Epicenter Location and Fault Parameters Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 100 3 995–1009 10.1785/0120090211 2010BuSSA.100..995B Computer-run simulations of the tsunami suggest the earthquake ruptured a steeply-dipping (70°), 120 km by 30 km fault with a focus depth of 3 km. The simulation indicated a maximum slip of 8 m. Another simulation of the earthquake and tsunami suggest the rupture was only 50 km in length, corresponding to a w 7.2 earthquake. See also List of earthquakes in the Caribbean List of earthquakes in Puerto Rico 2019–20 Puerto Rico earthquakes References Category:1867 earthquakes Category:November 1867 in North America Category:Tsunamis in the United States Category:Earthquakes in the Caribbean Category:Natural disasters in Denmark Category:1860s disasters in Denmark Category:1860s in the Danish West Indies Category:Earthquakes in Puerto Rico Category:1867 disasters in the United States Category:1860s floods Category:1867 in the British Empire Category:1867 in Puerto Rico Category:1867 in the British Virgin Islands Category:1867 in the Caribbean Category:Natural disasters in the British Virgin Islands Category:Natural disasters in dependent territories of the United Kingdom Category:1867 natural disasters in the United States Category:Maritime incidents in November 1867 Category:1867 disasters in North America