In that year [a.H. 597]
there was a great earthquake in the month of Shaban [April-May 1201]. It came from the direction of
Upper Egypt and spread over the world in a single hour. Buildings in Egypt were destroyed and many people disappeared under
the destruction. It reached Syria and the coast, and Nablus was destroyed: only the walls of the Sumrah quarter were left
standing. 30,000 people perished under the rubble. Likewise Akka and Tyre were destroyed, along with the fortresses of the
coast. It encompassed Damascus: some of the minarets of the Umayyad Mosque were destroyed, and most of al-Kallasah and the
Nuri hospital. The people fled to the public spaces. Sixteen galleries fell from the mosque. The Qubbah al-Nasr split.
Banyas and Hunayn suffered as well. A group of people from Baalbek, travelling on the road, were buried under a mountain
landslide and perished. Most of the citadel of Baalbek was destroyed. Homs, Hama, and Aleppo were affected. [The earthquake]
crossed the sea to Cyprus. The sea split and rose like a mountain, hurling ships on to the shore and breaking up a number of
them. It reached Akhlat, Armenia, Azarbayjan, and al-Jazirah, and also Ajam. It was said that thousands or 100,000 perished
under the rubble. (Ibn al-Dawadari, vii. 149-150).
