Reply to “Comment on ‘The 373 B.C. Helike (Gulf of Corinth, Greece) Earthquake and Tsunami, Revisited’ by ” by Dora Katsonopoulou and Ioannis Koukouvelas

Abstract

Abstract This reply is a response to a comment criticizing a recent article proposing a new scenario for the 373 B.C. earthquake, derived from ancient texts. This earthquake and a following tsunami are reported to have destroyed Helike and Boura, two ancient Greek towns, which then were found submerged into the Gulf of Corinth, punished by Poseidon, an ancient Greek god. The comment contested the new scenario that these ancient texts reflect a later legend, of Roman times. The comment is unsubstantiated, because (1) ruins of the two towns, invisible till recently, have been found in archaeological excavations, without any signs of a marine regression, while no significant marine regression is derived from sedimentological data; (2) Helike and Boura were town–states consisting of smaller villages, located at elevations above 20 and 500 m, respectively, and their subsidence into the sea was impossible; (3) ancient authors writing shortly after 373 B.C. ignore the loss of Helike and Boura; and (4) ancient texts reporting the loss are much later, of Roman times (>200 yr after 373 B.C.), and they reflect a local legend and manipulated or forged ancient texts, for example by pseudo-Aristotle. The scenario proposed in Seismological Research Letters represents the only realistic explanation for the ancient texts referring to the 373 B.C. earthquake.