Ibn al-Dawadari dated the earthquake to Shaʿbān
A.H. 597, although this year is incorrect. When corrected to
Shaʿbān
A.H. 598, the corresponding period of 26 April – 24 May 1202 CE
includes the date of the earthquake(s) on 20 May 1202 CE
(calculated using
CHRONOS). Ibn al-Dawadari recorded
that “there was a great earthquake” which extended from Upper Egypt to
Syria and the coast. In Egypt, buildings collapsed and many people
“disappeared under the rubble.” Nablus was reported to have been
destroyed with 30,000 dead, leaving only the walls of the Sumrah
Quarter standing. Akko and Tyre were also destroyed, along with the
fortresses along the coast, while “Banyas and Hunayn suffered as well.”
He added that a landslide killed people traveling from Baalbek and that
most of the citadel there was destroyed. In Damascus, there was damage
to the Umayyad Mosque, “most of al-Kallasah, and the Nuri Hospital.”
Homs, Hama, and Aleppo were likewise affected. The earthquake was said
to have reached Cyprus, where a tsunami “hurled ships onto shore,
breaking up a number of them.” It also extended to Akhlat, Armenia,
Azerbaijan, al-Jazirah, and Ajam. In total, “thousands or 100,000
perished under the rubble.”