(left) A drawing by Dominik de la Greche of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre apparently before the earthquake when the Bell Tower Dome to the left was still intact - from The Met - NYC
(right) drawing of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre after the 1546 CE earthquake. Note that the dome of the bell tower to the left is missing.
This earthquake is described by a wide range of authors writing in different languages and representing several traditions. Despite some variation, there is enough chronological agreement among sources to conclude that sometime between noon and early afternoon on 14 January 1546 CE, a destructive earthquake struck, causing death and widespread damage in Jerusalem, Hebron, Nablus, and many surrounding towns. The Jordan River was reported to have dried up for one to three days, an effect that Ot Nafshi attributed to a landslide temporarily damming the river, possibly near Damiya. The extent of the damage and possible paleoseismic evidence from the Dead Sea point to an epicenter in the northern Dead Sea or southern Jordan Valley. Although some authors claimed that nearly every house in Jerusalem was cracked or ruined, a drawing of the city made a few months later in Voldrich Prefat’s travelogue suggests that the damage was not so severe. In contrast, reports from Nablus describe heavy destruction and hundreds of fatalities. The combination of moderate damage in Jerusalem, heavy damage in Nablus, the Jordan River running dry, and an epicenter near the northern Dead Sea or southern Jordan Valley recalls the 1927 CE Jericho earthquake, which had a magnitude of about 6.3 and a similar epicentral location.
Reports also mention a tsunami off the coast of Jaffa, continuing aftershocks immediately after the main shock, and two specific aftershocks on 14 March and 12 May 1546 CE, give or take a day. In Jerusalem, many sources state that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was damaged, a detail supported by another post-quake drawing in Voldrich Prefat’s travelogue. Other reports cite damage to mosques, madrassas, and structures on Mount Zion and the Temple Mount, including the al-Aqsa Mosque, as well as possible damage to a few synagogues. Tall and slender structures such as towers and minarets appear to have been the most affected. Damage was also reported in Hebron, Bethlehem, Ramla, Jericho, Gaza, es-Salt, and al-Karak1, while accounts differ on whether Damascus was seriously affected or escaped with little harm.
Finally, it is worth noting that Nablus and Ramla have often been damaged in earthquakes even when distant from the epicenter, likely due to local site effects. In Ramla, this appears related to sandy soil and a shallow water table that favors liquefaction. Raml in Arabic means sand. In Nablus, the effect may be geometric, possibly caused by constructive interference of seismic waves within its well-defined valley.