Characterizations and Background Information from Ambraseys (2009) and Gil (1992) - mostly Gil (1992)
Ambraseys (2009) notes that Al-Maqrizi
mentions that Ramla was destroyed and not restored afterwards (al-Maqrizi, Khitat, i. 337, ii. 277).
Gil (1992:409 n. 60) notes that
Macrizi, Itti'az, II, 277, states
the destruction of Ramla was final, for it was not
rebuilt
which
Gil (1992:409 n. 60) does not find credible
(JW: Fulcher of Chartres indicates that Ramla was inhabited around the time of the first crusade - ~1098/99 CE). It should be noted that
Gil (1992:408) dates the earthquake at Ramla to
29 May 1068 CE rather than 18 March 1068 CE - choosing to beleive in the chronological accuracy of al-Banna's accounts and mistakenly states that all accounts of the
earthquake were Muslim - neglecting to consider the Coptic Christian account in
Continuation of History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria by Mawhub ibn Mansur Mufarrij.
Gil (1992:409 n. 60) also notes that, according to al-Maqrizi,
the Turks in al-Mustansir's [Fatimid] army invaded Ramla in Muharram AH 460,
that is November AD 1067 [JW: Actually 11 Nov. - 10 Dec. 1067 CE]
. This could suggest that Ramla was
severely damaged around this time by human agency rather than an earthquake in 1068 CE and that there was one major earthquake in 1068 CE with an epicentral region in
the Gulf of Aqaba/the Araba.
