[2] The earthquake was felt over a very wide area extending from Sicily, Italy to the Levant and North Africa.

[3] On the Greek island of Crete, the effects of the earthquake were cataclysmic, over 500 bodies were recovered in the city of Heraklion.

Shockwaves from the earthquake were felt intensely, covering all of the Ottoman Empire; present-day Turkey, Cyprus and the Middle East where damage and human losses were reported.

In Malta, the Għajn Ħadid Tower—a coastal watchtower built around the year 1638—was severely damaged in the earthquake, when its upper floor collapsed.

In Cairo, Egypt, the earthquake destroyed buildings, created seiches in canals, and killed several people.

Tsunamis are produced along the Hellenic Trench as one side of the fault is suddenly thrust upwards, displacing trillions of liters of seawater during a massive earthquake.

[7] The earthquake reached XI (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale in the central part of Crete.

Damage to structures corresponded to intensity VII, higher than expected for the 1,000 km distance from the earthquake in Greece.

Seiches in canals caused water to splash all over while clocks stopped working as a result of the ground motions.

Around the Nile Delta, collapses of homes and falling minarets killed an additional number of people in the towns of Tanta and Damanhur.

[8] In the book Domestic Life in Palestine, author Mary Eliza Rogers described her experience of the strong tremors in Haifa, Israel but she dated the event incorrectly between the night of 10 and 11 October.