A <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/551_Beirut_earthquake" id="mwJQ" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="551 Beirut earthquake">major earthquake</a> strikes Beirut, triggering a devastating tsunami that affected the coastal towns of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenicia_under_Roman_rule" id="mwJg" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Phoenicia under Roman rule">Byzantine Phoenicia</a>, causing thousands of deaths.<sup about="#mwt25" class="mw-ref reference" data-mw='{"name":"ref","attrs":{"name":"Elias"},"body":{"id":"mw-reference-text-cite_note-Elias-3"}}' id="cite_ref-Elias_3-0" rel="dc:references" typeof="mw:Extension/ref"><a href="./July_9#cite_note-Elias-3" id="mwJw" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 3;"><span class="mw-reflink-text" id="mwKA">[3]</span></a></sup>