In the 1240s, three trading ships disappeared beneath the waters of a secluded cove on the Spanish island of Menorca. For more than 750 years, their fate remained unknown. Now, underwater archaeologists have uncovered the overlapping remains of all three vessels at Cala en Busquets, an ancient harbor near Ciutadella, and the position of the wrecks suggests they may have gone down during the same disaster.
The leading explanation is not an earthquake or a conventional storm. Researchers believe a sudden meteotsunami, locally known as a rissaga , may have sent a powerful surge through the harbor and overwhelmed the medieval ships. The phenomenon is still capable of sinking boats in Menorca today, making the medieval wrecks an unusually vivid reminder that a little-known natural hazard has been shaping the island's maritime history for centuries.
