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Clearing up the Description of Earthquakes by Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti

كتاب كشف الصلصلة عن وصف الزلزلة by عبد الرحمن بن كمال الدين أبي بكر بن محمد سابق الدين خضر الخضيري الأسيوطي

Aliases
Aliases Arabic
Al-Suyuti
As-Suyuti
Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti
Abu 'l-Fadl 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr ibn Muhammad Djalal al_Din al-Khudayri
Background and Biography
Background and Biography

Excerpts
English from Sprenger (1843) - Earthquake in A.H. 460

A.H. 460. Tuesday 11th Jomadalawwal, an earthquake in Palestine: Ramla was destroyed. It extended to the Hejaz. It reached also Wadi El-Szafr, Khaiber, Bedr, Yanba, Wadi-kora, Teima and Tabuk, and it extended as far a Kufa; only two houses of Ramla remained, 25,000 persons perished. 'Aila was destroyed with all its inhabitants, the earthquake was also felt at Jerusalem. The sea receded from the coast, but soon returned again into its place. In all these countries it was felt at the same hour.

English from Sprenger (1843) - Earthquake in A.H. 462 - probable repeat of A.H. 460 Report

A.H. 462. Tuesday 11th Jomadalawwal at Ramla, and its dependencies, Jerusalem and Egypt. One corner of the principal mosque of Cairo gave way; it was immediately succeeded by two other earthquakes

English from Sprenger (1843) - embedded



An Original Manuscript

  • The Noor book courtesy of Najib Abou Karaki (personal correspondence, 2022)





























Chronology
Year Reference Corrections Notes
Tuesday 18 March 1068 CE Tuesday 11th of Jumada I A.H. 460 none
  • Calculated with CHRONOS
  • 18 March 1068 CE falls on a Tuesday (calculated using CHRONOS)
  • As-Suyuti recorded the same date - 11th of Jumada I for an A.H. 462 event but The 11th of Jumada I in A.H. 462 corresponds to 25 February 1070 CE and fell on a Thursday - not a Tuesday which adds further support that the A.H. 462 account is a repeat of the A.H. 460 event.
  • The 25 Feb. 1070 CE date shows up in the catalog of Ben-Menahem (1979:259), and, according to Guidoboni and Comastri (2005), in one section of the catalog of Taher (1979:41). However, it does not show up in the catalog of Poirier and Taher (1980b) indicating that if Taher made a mistake, it was soon corrected.
Seismic Effects
  • an earthquake in Palestine
  • Ramla was destroyed
  • only two houses of Ramla remained, 25,000 persons penshed
  • It extended to the Hejaz
  • It reached also Wadi El-Szafr, Khaiber, Bedr, Yanba (Yanbu ?), Wadi-kora, Teima' and Tabuk, and it extended as far a Kufa
  • 'Aila was destroyed with all its inhabitants
  • the earthquake was also felt at Jerusalem
  • tsunami - the sea receded from the coast, but soon returned again into its place.
  • One corner of the principal mosque of Cairo gave way; it was immediately succeeded by two other earthquakes
  • Egypt affected
Locations Sources
Sources

Notes and Further Reading
References