English translation of the German version from Ambraseys (2009)
About noon, on the 14th of January AD 1546
there was a terrific earthquake in Jerusalem. As a result the vault of the Holy Tomb sunk and
the walls and tower of the Temple were damaged and parts of them collapsed. The same happened in Damascus and great damage was done to other
towns and villages; many people perished at sea and on land. Four towns in particular, Rama, Joppe, ‘Zozilgip and Sichem were totally destroyed
by this earthquake to the extent that, with the exception of Damascus and Joppe, one can no longer recognise that there had been towns on these
sites. And there exist no other places in these regions that would not have been damaged. On the same day, blood was flowing out from a fountain,
named after the Prophet Eliseo, from which always water was drawn off. And at the beginning of this, flames coming out from the fountain were seen,
and this lasted for four days. On the day of the earthquake the river Jordan dried up for two days and so did all the streams around Joppe that
fall into the sea, which stopped flowing for three days. And when they began to flow again, the water was red. The sea near Joppe retreated to a
distance of a full days’ walk off shore (sic.), so that one could walk with dry feet on the sea bed. A great many people, about 10 000, who
ventured on foot offshore were drowned when the sea came back. At the same time, unusually strong winds got up so that near Tripoli they
brought up a lot of sand and clay from the south that drifted into mounts. At the same time, equally strong winds caused great damage to the
city of Famagusta in Cyprus and ruined its vineyards, something that also happened at San Sergio’ (Anon. 1546).
