In the 3rd century, Hispalis, now known as Seville, one of the most important ports of the peninsula (Hispania)At that time in history it was controlled by the Roman Empire. Thanks to this strategic pointHundreds of ships were capable of transporting up to 18,000 tons of products per year, mainly minerals, wine and oil, from Bética (Andalusia) to Rome.

That magnificent moment in Seville has been studied by dozens of researchers and historians and has been since 2010. excavation research project At different locations around the Patio de Banderas (in the grounds of the Real Alcázar) to examine the historical human occupation of this point of the city.

Archaeologists dug deep there and They found a public building from the Roman periodA commercial area connected to the Híspalis river port, with an abundance of administrative, religious, production and storage buildings. The building stands out for two reasons: its well-preserved state (due to renovation) and the external signs that reveal this state. had been destroyed in a “traumatic” way.

They noted that most of the walls had been moved northwest by “external forces.” Many of them must have collapsed onto the street pavements. It was thought that there might be a tsunami but it was cancelled for various reasons: the site was 6.70 meters above sea level and the distance between Hispalis and the sea was almost 40 kilometers. So the wave would have to be very big to destroy this building.

But it was.

Map of the Seville tsunami

An investigation confirmed this. The study was published on: Natural Science in Archaeologyand the study, in which researchers from the universities of Seville, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Aix-Marseille (France) and Tübingen (Germany) collaborated, suggests that: a huge tsunami Originating in the Gulf of Cádiz, it devastated Seville in the 3rd century, causing the abandonment of numerous coastal settlements. And the clue is given by the enigmatic building located in the current Patio de Banderas plaza.

Hispalis.

To reach this answer, scientists have made all kinds of observations. from carbon-14 dating to micromorphology analysismineralogy, geochemistry, ultraviolet fluorescence microscopy or mass spectrometry. After all these examinations, scientists relied on various evidence to confirm that the tsunami occurred.

First of all, around the building they found lots of drifting material this had nothing to do with the shape of this commercial area: “The marbles, inscriptions, paintings and columns had undoubtedly been moved from a nearby building for the occasion.” Second, they noticed that The tank was filled with sand, silt beds and hundreds of tons of marine debrisSuch as shells and other microorganisms.

It was the latter that provided researchers with evidence confirming that the flood could have come from the sea. “A major catastrophic event occurred that caused a large-scale marine flood that reached the port neighborhood of Hispalis, with enough force to destroy buildings such as the Patio de Banderas warehouse.” Authors details.

A tidal wave written in capital letters.

It should be noted that in 400 BC C. the Atlantic Ocean had created a lagoon at the mouth of the Guadalquivir, known at that time as the Atlantic Ocean. Lacus LigustinusIt was surrounded by three river corridors, one of which led directly to Híspalis (Seville).

Illustration of the tsunami in Lisbon in 1755.

Andalusia and the risk of tsunami today

This was not the only tsunami to hit the Andalusian coast. Earthquake in Lisbon in 1755 It caused a wave that reached the shores of Huelva and Cádiz. In our country alone, a total of 2,000 people lost their lives. As we say in XatakaAfter the 1755 tsunami in Spain, there have been documented tsunamis in 1790, 1804, 1954, 1969, 1975 and 1978. The last one occurred only 20 years ago. In 2003, an earthquake near Algeria created a wave that sank more than a hundred boats in the Balearic Islands, although it came very weakly.

And the truth is that until recently neither the Andalusian Junta nor the Spanish Government had any plan against the tsunami. But a few years ago, UNESCO warned The probability of a wave larger than 6 meters in the Mediterranean in the next 30 years almost 100%. The riskiest areas? Huelva and Cadiz.

On that side, Up to 20 municipalities are at risk of seeing a large tsunami (more than 12 metres) It is estimated that it will take about an hour to reach the coast. For this reason, the Ministry of Interior recently announced an alert and evacuation plan, and Andalusia approved its own emergency plan.

Images | Wikimedia Commons

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*A previous version of this article was published in September 2023.