1927 Jericho earthquake

Earthquake in Mandatory Palestine and Transjordan
31°55′N 35°38′E / 31.92°N 35.63°E / 31.92; 35.63Areas affectedMandatory Palestine
TransjordanTotal damageSerious damage to Jericho, Ramla, Tiberias, Nablus and JerusalemMax. intensityMSK-64 IX (Destructive) [3][4]
MMI VIII (Severe)[5]Casualties287–500 [1][6]

The 1927 Jericho earthquake was a devastating event that shook Mandatory Palestine and Transjordan on July 11 at 15:04 local time. The epicenter of the earthquake was in the northern area of the Dead Sea. The cities of Jerusalem, Jericho, Ramle, Tiberias, and Nablus were heavily damaged and at least 287 were estimated to have been killed.

Earthquake

Vered and Striem (1977) located the earthquake epicenter to be near the Damya Bridge in the Jordan Valley, and close to the city of Jericho.[7] Later research by Avni (1999), located the epicenter to be around 50 km south of this location near the Dead Sea.[8]

Effects

Mandatory Palestine

Jerusalem

The death toll in Jerusalem included more than 130 people and around 450 were injured. About 300 houses collapsed or were severely damaged to the point of not being usable. The earthquake also caused heavy damage to the domes of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the al-Aqsa Mosque.

The rest of the country

The earthquake was especially severe in Nablus where it destroyed around 300 buildings, including the Mosque of Victory and the historic parts of the Great Mosque of Nablus.[7] The death toll in Nablus included more than 150 people and around 250 were injured.

In Jericho, a number of houses collapsed, including several relatively new hotels. In one of the hotels, three female tourists from India were killed.[9] Ramla and Tiberias were also heavily damaged.

Emirate of Transjordan

The most affected city in Transjordan was Salt in which 80 people were killed. In the rest of Transjordan another 20 people were killed.

  • Destruction in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem
    Destruction in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem
  • This is the Russian Monastery of Ascension on the Mount of Olives in which three people were killed. On the iron gate on the left, we can read : РУССКАЯ ДУХОВНАЯ МИССИЯ (Russian Ecclesiastical Mission)
    This is the Russian Monastery of Ascension on the Mount of Olives in which three people were killed. On the iron gate on the left, we can read : РУССКАЯ ДУХОВНАЯ МИССИЯ (Russian Ecclesiastical Mission)
  • The destroyed Winter Palace Hotel[10] in Jericho
    The destroyed Winter Palace Hotel[10] in Jericho

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Kallner-Amiran, D. H. "A Revised Earthquake Catalog of Palestine". Retrieved July 8, 2012.
  2. ^ a b ISC (2015), ISC-GEM Global Instrumental Earthquake Catalogue (1900–2009), Version 2.0, International Seismological Centre
  3. ^ Zohar & Marco 2012.
  4. ^ Ambraseys, N. N.; Melville, R. D.; Adams, R. D. (2005), The Seismicity of Egypt, Arabia and the Red Sea: A Historical Review, Cambridge University Press, p. 122, ISBN 978-0521020251
  5. ^ Ambraseys, N. N. (1988). "Engineering seismology: Part I". Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics. 17 (1). Table II. Bibcode:1988EESD...17....1A. doi:10.1002/eqe.4290170101. ISSN 0098-8847.
  6. ^ National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS) (1972), Significant Earthquake Database, National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA, doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K
  7. ^ a b Wachs, Daniel; Levitte, Dov (June 1978), Damage Caused By Landslides During the Earthquakes of 1837 and 1927 in the Galilee Region, Geological Survey of Israel
  8. ^ Shapira, Avi; Avni, Ron; Nur, Amos (1993). "A new estimate for the epicenter of the Jericho earthquake of 11 July 1927". Israel Journal of Earth Sciences. Israel Geological Society. pp. 93–96.
  9. ^ Duff, Douglas V. (1934) Sword for Hire.The Saga of a Modern Free-Companion. John Murray, London. 1st Edition. pp.219–227
  10. ^ "Air photo based map of Jericho, 1946, produced by the Royal Engineers of the British Army, showing the location of the hotel". The National Library of Israel, The Eran Laor Cartographic Collection.

Sources

  • Avni, R.; Bowman, D.; Shapira, A.; Nur, A. (2002), "Erroneous interpretation of historical documents related to the epicenter of the 1927 Jericho earthquake in the Holy Land" (PDF), Journal of Seismology, 6 (6), Kluwer Academic Publishers: 469–476, Bibcode:2002JSeis...6..469A, doi:10.1023/A:1021191824396, S2CID 129021633, archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-01-07, retrieved 2012-07-09
  • Zohar, M.; Marco, S. (2012), "Re-estimating the epicenter of the 1927 Jericho earthquake using spatial distribution of intensity data" (PDF), Journal of Applied Geophysics, 82, Elsevier: 19–29, Bibcode:2012JAG....82...19Z, doi:10.1016/j.jappgeo.2012.03.004, archived from the original (PDF) on 4 December 2013
  • Zohar, M.; Rubin, R.; Salamon, A. (2014), "Earthquake Damage and Repair: New Evidence from Jerusalem on the 1927 Jericho Earthquake", Seismological Research Letters, 85 (4), Seismological Society of America: 912–922, Bibcode:2014SeiRL..85..912Z, doi:10.1785/0220140009

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1927 earthquake in Palestine.
  • Jerusalem Hit By Earth Jars – published in the Prescott Evening Courier on July 11, 1927
  • 104 Quake Toll In Holy Land – published in the Youngstown Vindicator on July 12, 1927
  • 300 reported Toll of Quake[permanent dead link] – published in the Milwaukee Journal on July 12, 1927
  • Quake Reports From Palestine Yet Fragmentary – published in Newspapers on July 14, 1927
  • The International Seismological Centre has a bibliography and/or authoritative data for this event.
  • v
  • t
  • e
Earthquakes in the 1920s
1920
1921
1923
1925
1927
1928
1929
† indicates earthquake resulting in at least 30 deaths
‡ indicates the deadliest earthquake of the year
  • v
  • t
  • e
Classic era
Middle ages
Ottoman era
Contemporary