479 BC Potidaea earthquake
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  | |
| Local date | 479 BC |
|---|---|
| Magnitude | 7.0 Ms |
| Epicenter | North Aegean Sea |
| Areas affected | Ancient Greece |
| Max. intensity | MMI IX (Violent) |
| Tsunami | Yes |
| Casualties | Many, possibly at least hundreds of fatalities |
The 479 BC Potidaea tsunami is the oldest record of a paleotsunami in human history.[1] The tsunami is believed to have been triggered by a Ms 7.0 earthquake in the north Aegean Sea. The associated tsunami may have saved the colony of Potidaea from an invasion by Persians from the Achaemenid Empire.
The Aegean Sea is a seismically active region with complex plate tectonics interaction both within and surrounding the Aegean Sea plate. Seismicity in the Aegean Sea is due to active extension within the lithospheric plate.
The Aegean Sea plate is defined along several major plate boundaries including the North Anatolian Fault which runs through northern Turkey, where the Anatolian sub-plate slides past the Eurasian plate along this right-lateral strike-slip fault. The southern margin is dominated by active convergence of the African plate. It converges north towards the Aegean Sea plate at a rate of 5–10 mm/yr. The subduction rate along the Hellenic subduction zone at 35 mm/yr, however, greatly exceeds the velocity of the African plate. North–south extension within the Aegean Sea plate in the back-arc region compensates the subduction rate. Shallow crustal earthquakes within the Aegean Sea plate is a result of this extension, accommodated by east–west trending normal faults.[2]