Mediterranean Coasts Found with Additional Clues of Thera-Santorini Eruption; Massive Tsunamis Hit Right After Explosion

Santorini is among the record-holders of the most catastrophic volcano eruptions in the planet's history. The explosion shook the entire Mediterranean, which induced changes in the region's geological formation and culture. Previous studies have shown that the eruption from Santorini was massive. A new study confirmed the contributing factors that made the Bronze Age event even more terrifying than first thought.

New Evidence of Thera-Santorini Eruption Unearthed

GREECE-CULTURE-ARCHAEOLOGY — A view taken on October 20, 2012 shows the volcanic island of Santorini. One of Greece's most famous archaeological sites, the prehistoric town of Akrotiri on the island of Santorini, which reopened in 2012, seven years after a deadly roof collapse, was presented the press on October 20, 2012. The settlement was one of the most important of its era in the entire Aegean Sea. Habitation began in the late Stone Age in the 4th millennium BCE and it gradually developed into an urban centre with multi-storeyed buildings with magnificent wall paintings and an elaborate drainage system.A volcanic eruption that followed wiped out the island's Minoan colony but the residue helped preserve the buildings of Akrotiri, as it did in Pompeii in Italy. LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP via Getty Images

New geological research found that the old, 'super-colossal' explosion of the Minoan volcano in the Thera islands triggered a level 7 magnitude earthquake and towering tsunamis. Based on the volcanic explosivity index, the level of the said eruption is just 1 level down from the most destructive activity.

The latest clues regarding Thera's volcanic disaster were discovered from physical remains and artifacts preserved beneath the coast of Turkey, making the site a priceless 'time capsule' of the fatal phenomena during the Bronze Age.

Thera's eruption was one of the most devastating catastrophes on the planet. Although many volcanoes exhibited impacts similar to the Minoan explosions, the Thera eruption alone is enough to disrupt the natural stability of Earth's atmospheric regions and the geological formations.

Based on previous analysis led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory experts, the cataclysmic Thera/Santorini volcanic eruption could be compared to the millions of magnitude produced by atomic bombs that were unfortunately dropped from the skies on Hiroshima.

Many groups in the historical community also theorize that the explosion was so traumatizing to the era that people diverted the details they witnessed to literature. One of the suspected allegories of the Thera eruption was the sunken city of Atlantis, a piece created by Plato centuries after the event. Moreover, many scholars also pointed out that the 'ten plagues' portrayed in the holy scriptures were written with inspiration from the eruption.

Pompeii, a famous region where a different volcano massively exploded, is also compared to a Minoan town buried beneath the ashes by Thera. The place is known as the Akrotiri, rich in archaeological evidence and usually compared to the Roman city.

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Tsunamis Occured in Aegean Sea After Mediterranean Volcano Blasted

The authors of the new study found unique evidence that could help us unravel the exact scenario during the Thera/Santorini eruption. Based on the paper, the data presents conclusive hints of a great surge of a tsunami that followed right after the explosion 3,600 years ago. Detailed information from the gigantic wave was observed on preserved specimens on the coasts surrounding the Aegean Sea, a region where the volcanic island is located.

The tsunami event in question was not observed and recorded by the ancient inhabitants of the region by the time it occurred. Due to the lack of firsthand accounts, many groups in the scientific community dedicated a series of research to define its presence and impacts on the Mediterranean. The usual interests of these studies are to know the advancements and downfalls of the tsunami to Minoan people, who are considered the most powerful maritime group of their age.

The latest study was supported by initial clues brought up back in 2002. According to a report by National Geographic, ancient pottery and other artifacts were found buried in a Turkish resort town called Çesme-Bağlararası. The spot is known to flourish in the Mediterranean clues by the archaeological community.

The Santorini-based tsunami evidence belongs among the few sites where the event was exclusively detected. With that said, researchers attempted to get ahold of non-physical hints not just from Thera but also from other regions. The new research provided substantial data on the chemical reactions, marine biodiversity, and mineral displacements from Çeşme-Bağlararası and nearby coasts to identify at least four massive tsunami hits over days following the volcanic eruption.

The authors noted that the exact date of the eruption could not be as early as the dates when the tsunamis hit. It is because a piece of supporting deposit information, which was extracted from barley near the remains of a young volcanic victim, dated to at least 1612 BC. Other scholars doubt it, but the authors expressed their interest in gaining new computations regarding the unsolved chronology in Çesme-Bağlararası.

The young man buried beneath the rubbles of Santorini was the first and only Thera-eruption victim ever to be discovered in the region. However, the new paper argues that the man may have been a casualty of a separate earthquake. Further studies are needed to uncover the person's identity and the timeline of his remains on the site.

The study was published in the journal PNAS, titled "Volcanic ash, victims, and tsunami debris from the Late Bronze Age Thera eruption discovered at Çeşme-Bağlararası (Turkey)."