1759 CE Safed and Baalbek Quakes

Text (with hotlink)	Original Language	Religion	Date of Composition	Location Composed	Notes
Letter from the French Consulate in Saida (Sidon)	French	Christian	Dec. 1759 CE	Saida (Sidon)	Account A two part letter written in late December 1759 CE and a bit later from a French Consular official in Saida (Sidon) provided an extensive description of seismic effects from the two earthquakes. The first earthquake struck at 345 am on 30 Oct. 1759 CE. It was followed by continuing aftershocks until a second stronger and longer quake struck on 25 November. The two earthquakes ruined the city of Saida (Sidon) with all houses partially or fully destroyed. The Khan was extremely damaged particularly on the the sunset and midday side. Because the city became uninhabitable people left the city to live in tents. As of 28 Dec. 1759 CE or a bit later, the writer reports that there was never a 24 hour stretch without aftershocks. Aftershocks were reported throughout Syria. Outside of Saida (Sidon), Nablus and Safed were said to be completely ruined as was the case with Baalbek. Damascus was 75% ruined and Acre slightly less damaged than Saida (Sidon). Several villages were damaged in the mountains and the writer said that it was assumed that more than thirty thousand people died in Syria. A large fissure opened up in the earth on the Baalbek side and it is said that these cracks extend more than 20 leagues (~110 km.). Beirut, Rame (Ramle?), Jerusalem and Jane (Jenin?) all felt the earthquake but were less damaged. The report from the French Consul in Saida spoke of what is approximated as a ~6 m wide ~110 km. long earth fissure on the eastern Baalbek side of the Beqaa Valley. This (albeit second hand) observation agrees with geomorphological observations by Daeron (2005) and Daeron et al (2005) that less weathered fault scarplets on the Rachaıya-Serghaya faults and fresh mole-tracks on the Rachaıya fault (both on the eastern Baalebek side) were caused by the 25 Nov. Baalbek Quake. This further suggests that the 25 Nov. Baalbek Quake was of significant Magnitude since extended tectonic ruptures tend to be a result of large M 7.0+ earthquakes. Older more weathered fault scarplets observed by Daeron (2005) and Daeron et al (2005) on the Yammouneh fault [west side of the Beqaa Valley] were presumed to be due to one of the 1202 CE earthquakes.
Archbishop of Saida Boutros Jalfaq	Arabic ?	Christian Melkite	December 1759 CE	Sidon	Account An extensive account of the earthquakes of 1759 CE is to be found in a letter written in December 1759 by Boutros Jalfaq (aka Basile Jelghaf?) the Archbishop of Saida (Sidon). The letter dates the earthquakes to 30 Oct. and 25 Nov. 1759 CE and contains an extensive list of seismic effects, some of which may be co-mingled, as well as locations where there was damage or fatalities. The 30 Oct. 1759 CE earthquake is said to have been particularly severe in Safed where 2000 were reported dead. Curiously, the area surrounding Safed was said to be unscathed indicating that a Ridge effect may have been at play in Safed during this earthquake. Numerous aftershocks and people sleeping in open spaces around their towns and villages is also described after this earthquake. The 25 Nov. 1759 CE earthquake was described as more violent than the October one and the ensuing description of seismic effects are probably mostly due to this second earthquake. Damascus suffered severe destruction with several hundred dead. There were collapses and deaths in Baalbek and Ras-Baalbek. Some structures in the Baalbek Temple Complex were damaged. Deaths were reported in the village of Hasbyaa at the foot of Mount Hermon and nearby Beit-Jin was particularly hard hit on its southeastern slope where a fire broke out. The fire was said to have "fallen" on the village which is located 1 km. from a Quaternary volcanic crater. The Monastery of the Holy Savior near Sidon suffered damage and the nearby Convent of the Sisters of Notre Dame was ruined. 18 people were reported dead in the surrounding Maronite and Druze villages. In the Greek village of Qoutuli (near the monastery), two people died. Five people died in Saida (Sidon), one died in Deir-el-Qamar, and 55 people died in Kfar-Hatta. The seraglio and some churches were also damaged in Deir-el-Qamar. In Mukhtara, a few people died, the Sheikh's Place was destroyed, and rocks fractured in the mountains above the town. There were further reports of churches being damaged in Jorin and Berti. A dust cloud is said to have emerged after the earthquake and the source of Maasser-el-Chouf dried up. Churches and houses belonging to the monastery in the country of Hesroumom (?), north of Beirut were said to be unscathed. There was also a curious report of a massive hailstone in Qana, Lebanon.
Petition from Saida (Sidon)	Arabic		5 Dec. 1759 CE	Saida (Sidon)	Ayalon (2014:94) reports that after the earthquakes, a petition dated to 5 December 1759 was sent from Saida (Sidon) to Istanbul, asking for tax reductions for that year and the next. The petition was approved six weeks later.
Patrick Russell	English	Christian	2 Dec. 1759 CE & 29 March 1760 CE	Aleppo	Account Patrick Russell, who was both a physician and a naturalist/scientist, wrote a detailed contemporaneous account of both earthquakes in two letters. The first longer letter was written about 5 ½ weeks after the 30 Oct. Safed Quake and almost two weeks after the 25 Nov. Baalbek Quake. The extract from the second letter was much shorter and written almost 4 months after the first. Russell provided detailed descriptions of the nature and duration of the seismic shocks he experienced in Aleppo. The first shock he described was on the morning of 10 June 1759 CE. It was, he said, slight and forgettable. At about 4 am on 30 Oct. 1759 CE, he experienced a severe shock - the most violent he had ever felt. It lasted, he said, for more than a minute but did no damage in Aleppo. 10 minutes later an aftershock arrived - the tremulous motion was less violent, and did not last above fifteen seconds. These shocks were caused by the Safed Quake with a more distant epicenter. At about 730 pm on the night of the 25th of November 1759 CE, the Baalbek Quake struck Aleppo. Russell said that the motion, at first, was gently tremulous, increasing by degrees, till the vibrations became more distinct, and, at the same time, so strong, as to shake the walls of the houses with considerable violence. Then, the motion became more gentle and fluctuated between strong and gentle several times throughout the shock which, he said, lasted about two minutes. About 8 minutes later, he experienced a slight shock which lasted only a few seconds. The next morning at ~415 am, there was another shock, not nearly as strong as the first shock, which lasted somewhat less than a minute. At 9 pm on the 26th, another shock arrived. It lasted a few seconds and the motion appeared very deep and undulatory rather than tremulous. Russell reports that 4-5 additional slighter shocks were felt after midnight on the 25th but he was not sensible to them until he felt a short pulsatory shock on the morning of the 28th. Then at 2pm on the 28th, he felt another pretty smart shock, lasting about forty seconds. In the evening on 5 Dec., Russell felt a shock which was pretty strong, but lasted not above twenty seconds. People around Russell felt even more shocks. As he put it, others either felt or imagined several slight vibrations every day. In Russell's second letter written at the end of March, he said that after 7 Dec., there were several other shocks in December, and a few very slight ones in January : since which time, all has been quiet. Russell reported that damage in Aleppo was limited - excepting in a very few old walls, the city bears no fresh marks of ruin; none of the oldest minarets have suffered. He updated this assessment in his second letter written at the end of March 1760 CE - Excepting a few old houses, none of the buildings in Aleppo were actually thrown down; but the walls of a considerable number of houses have been rent. Before he finished his first letter on 7 Dec. 1759 CE, Russell received reports of how other cities in the region had fared. Russell's account is separated below by earthquake. 30 Oct. 1759 CE Safed Earthquake Letters from Damascus stated that the 30 Oct. earthquake and successive shocks had done considerable damage to Damascus. Daily accounts arrived about damage in Tripoli, Sidon, Acre, and all along the Syrian coast. Russell found many of the accounts exaggerated and inaccurate so he concluded that we only knew in in general, that Damascus, Acri [Acre], and Seidon [Sidon], have suffered injury from the earthquake, though less than was at first given out. Although Russell reported destruction in Safed as being due to the Nov. 25 Earthquake, this was a mistake due to the nature of communication at that time. Safed was totally destroyed, together with the greater part of the inhabitants on 30 Oct. 1759 CE. 25 Nov. 1759 CE Baalbek Earthquake Russell reported that in Antioch many houses have been thrown down, and some few people killed. Summarizing a letter written in Damascus on 28 Nov. which arrived in Aleppo on 7 Dec., Russell stated that one-third of Damascus was thrown down and unknown numbers of people died in the ruins. Survivors fled to the fields and were still there three days later. Relief efforts were reported as limited to non-existent. Another account from Damascus said that 20,000 people died but Russell was skeptical of the number. Tripoli suffered more than Aleppo. Three minarets, and two or three houses, were thrown down, while the walls of numbers of the houses were rent. The Franks, and many of the natives, ... deserted the city, and remain[ed] in the fields. At Sidon, a great part of the Frank kane [khan ?] was overthrown, and some of the Europeans narrowly escaped with their lives. Acre and Latakia suffered little, besides rents in some of the walls.
The London Chronicle 1760	English		December 1760 CE	London	The London Chronicle contains a brief mention of a dreadful earthquake which had affected Damascus.
La Gazette de France 1760	French		March 1760 CE	Paris	Account In 1760 CE, La Gazette de France reported on the earthquakes of 1759 CE twice in Issues 9 and 10. In Issue 9 (1 March 1760 CE), a report from Marseilles on 22 Feb. 1760 which was sourced from letters from Constantinople dated at the beginning of January 1760 CE stated that a great earthquake was experienced in the Levant. Safed was overthrown as wells as Antioch, Damascus, Tiberias and Jaffa. Tripoli, Seyde [Sidon], and Saint-Jean d'Acre were badly damaged. Several houses were knocked down there, and others sunk several feet. In Issue 10 (8 March 1760 CE), a report from Paris on 8 March 1760 which was sourced from letters from various places in Syria, spoke of repeated earthquakes which destroyed most of the towns in the region. The first earthquake struck at 345 am on 30 Oct. 1759 CE and the second earthquake struck at 715 pm on 25 November 1759 CE. Aftershocks were so numerous that they cannot be counted. It was reported that Tripoli in Syria is no more than a heap of ruins, as are Saphet (Safed), Napouloufe (Nablus?), Damascus, several other cities, and a multitude of Towns and Villages. Near Baalbek, a fissure several fathoms (a few meters) wide and 20 leagues (~ 80 km.) long was observed. This fissure report is almost identical to the Account by the French consul in Saida (Sidon). Survivors were reported to be living in tents in the countryside.
Ottoman Work Orders in Damascus	Turkish ?		1760 CE	Istanbul	Account Ayalon (2014:96-99) reports that Ottoman work orders compiled in 1760 CE for rebuilding efforts in Damascus listed no fewer than 430 structures that needed full or partial repair among them the Umayyad, Selimiye, and Süleymaniye Mosques, smaller Mosques, Madrasas, Soup Kitchens, unspecified buildings, walls, gates, and domes, and the Muhyi al-Din al- ‘Arabi (Ibn ‘Arabi) tomb.
al-Budayr	Arabic	Muslim	1762 CE	Damascus	Account UNDER CONSTRUCTION - awaiting translation from Arabic.
Mikha’il Burayk	Arabic	Greek Orthodox Christian	~1782 CE	Damascus	Account In Ayalon (2014:61)'s paraphrase of Mikha’il Burayk's (1982:78-80) earthquake narrative, a powerful earthquake was described as striking Damascus three hours before sunrise on 30 Oct. 1759 CE. The earthquake led to the destruction of houses, parts of the Umayyad Mosque, as well as other Mosques in Damascus. A month later (the exact date was not specified in the paraphrased re-telling) a “strong and frightening earthquake” hit Damascus late in the evening. It was reported that “walls were torn down, foundations weakened, minarets collapsed, and the Umayyad mosque with its minarets, domes and baths was destroyed.” Many other buildings were also destroyed among them the Greek Orthodox Church. Fires broke out in many quarters and, in the aftermath, city residents slept in gardens surrounding the city.
de Volney	French	Atheist	1787 CE	France	Account de Volney included a brief passage about an earthquake in 1759 CE in a book written about his travels to the region after the earthquakes struck. He reports that it is said that more than 20,000 people died in the valley of Baalbek due to the earthquake and he indicated that some structural damage remained unrepaired. He also reported that 3 months of aftershocks drove many in Lebanon to live in tents. He did not differentiate between the 30 Oct. Safed Quake and the 25 Nov. Baalbek Quake.
Giovanni Mariti	Italian		1787 CE	possibly Florence	Giovanni Mariti wrote a brief passage in a travelogue where he said that strong earthquakes caused immense damage in Syria in 1759 CE.
John Bramsen	French		1818 CE		John Bramsen wrote a short passage stating that Acre suffered greatly due to an earthquake in 1759 CE and when he visited the place in 1814 CE, one could still see remains of the destruction.
Burton and Drake (1872)	English		1872 CE		Account Burton and Drake (1872) reproduced a letter written by Isabel Burton in 1870 CE and a notice written by J.D. Crace in The Builder which state that the Keystone in the soffit of the Temple of Jupiter in Baalbek slipped during an earthquake in 1759 and three columns in the peristyle of the Temple of Jupiter also fell during an earthquake in the same year. Presumably the earthquake would be the 25 Nov. Baalbek Quake.
Other Authors
Text (with hotlink)	Original Language	Religion	Date of Composition	Location Composed	Notes

Location (with hotlink)	Status	Intensity	Notes
Tel Ateret aka Vadun Jacob	possible	≥7 or ≥8	Ottoman Mosque Earthquake Ellenblum et al (1998:305) described archaeoseismic evidence from Mamluk and Ottoman mosques built on the site as follows: In the northern part of the castle, we also unearthed a Muslim mosque whose northern wall is displaced sinistrally by 0.5 m. A mikhrab (the Muslim praying apse) is well preserved in the southern wall. According to the study of the pottery, the mosque was built, destroyed, and rebuilt at least twice: the initial structure was built in the Muslim period (12th century) and later rebuilt once or twice during the Turkish Ottoman period (1517-1917). The 0.5 m displacement is observed in the northern wall of the latest building phase. The repetitive building of this site might be due to earthquakes. The latest rebuilding phase was not dated. Ellenblum et al (2015) suggested that the 30 October 1759 CE Safed Quake was responsible while Ellenblum et al (1998:305) and Marco et al (1997) entertained the possibility that the 1837 CE Safed Quake is also a possible candidate.
Baalbek	probable	9 or 10	Drawings and descriptions before and after the 25 Nov. 1759 CE Baalbek Earthquake indicate that, at a minimum, 3 columns of the peristyle of the Great Temple (aka the Temple of Jupiter) fell and the keystone of the soffit of the door of the lesser Temple dropped. Further damage, including to the 'Round Temple' is likely but not well-documented. Due to reports of continual decay, vandalism, stone-robbing, etc. to the Ruins of Baalbek during this time, it is difficult to identify all of the potential seismic damage.
Nimrod Fortress	possible to probable	≥8	As this site has not been systematically excavated, the date of the observed seismic damage is conjectural. It happened sometime after the fortress was built in the 13th century CE. However, the 1759 CE Safed and Baalbek Quakes are promising candidates, particularly the 1759 CE Safed Quake which Daeron et al (20015) suggests broke the Rachaiya Fault a mere 2.5 km. away. In addition, the Nimrod Fortress is optimally oriented to experience seismic amplification due to a Ridge Effect from fault breaks on the Rachaiya Fault. Hinzen et al (2016) examined 95 instances of arch deformations on the site and concluded that a preferred damage orientation was not present on the site overall but was present in the Gate Tower and the secret passage in the Gate Tower. Hinzen et al (2016)'s orientation results, however, may suggest the possibility that more than one earthquake damaged the site (e.g., the 30 Oct 1759 CE Safed Quake, the 25 Nov. 1759 CE Baalbek Quake, and/or the 1837 CE Safed Quake). The Earthquake Archaeological Effects Chart suggests a minimum Intensity of 8 and a Discontinuous Deformation Analysis by Kamai and Hatzor (2007) suggests a local Intensity of about 9. Attenuation relationships using postulated Magnitudes and Epicenters from Daeron et al (20015) suggest that site Intensity was between 9 and 11 for the 1759 CE Safed Quake and 7.5 and 11 for the 1759 CE Baalbek Quake.
Dharih	possible		18th century CE Earthquake - Al-Muheisen and Villeneuve (2000) assert that a final earthquake (which could be placed in the 18th century, by reference to those of Baalbek) brought down a new part of the temple and its facade. The earthquake they refer to is one of the 1759 CE Safed and Baalbek Quakes.
Location (with hotlink)	Status	Intensity	Notes

¹ PGA to Intensity conversions use Wald et al (1999).
Location (with hotlink)	Status	Minimum PGA (g)	Likely PGA (g)	Likely Intensity¹	Comments
Safed	probable	n/a	n/a	≥7	Katz and Crouvi (2007) undertook a GIS based slope stability analysis of Safed in order to estimate current hazard due to seismically induced landslides. They used the 1759 CE Safed Quake and 1837 CE Safed Quake as calibrating events for their model. Their analysis coupled with observations of active creep within in the city suggest that a thick anthropogenic talus has created conditions ripe for slope instability. This in turn suggests that seismic damage in Safed due to the 1759 CE Safed Quake and the 1837 CE Safed Quake was largely due to landslides. However, since the slopes are weak, the minimum Intensity required to induce slope failure is relatively low and, therefore, not very diagnostic of the maximum Intensity experienced in the city due to either of these seismic events.
Location (with hotlink)	Status	Minimum PGA (g)	Likely PGA (g)	Likely Intensity¹	Comments

Location (with hotlink)	Status	Intensity	Notes
Taninim Creek Dam	possible		Flame structures - ~1500-~1900 CE Marco et al (2014) observed zigzaged flame structures atop a permeable lacustrine unit wedged between two impermeable units. They interpreted the flame structures to be a result of overpressures or liquefaction. They surmised that the liquefaction was either induced directly by seismic shaking or by loading from a tsunami that breached the dam and placed a load of ~3 m of (additional ?) sloshing water above the sediment-water interface. Stone displacements observed on the northern part of the dam along with the spatial distribution and the zigzaged nature of the flame structures (indicating shearing) led them to favor the tsunamogenic interpretation. If correct, a tsunamogenic interpretation suggests an offshore slope failure during the causitive earthquake as active faults are not known to be present in this part of the coast. The flame structures would have formed below the sediment water interface making this event difficult to date. Dating was approximate and was based on stratigraphy, archaeology, and textual accounts. The permeable lacustrine unit was assumed to have been deposited within an artificial lake that formed behind a dam that was originally constructed around 400 CE. Based on an estimated deposition rate, Marco et al (2014) surmised that it was deposited between ~400 CE and ~1400-1700 CE. Only one organic sample taken about 0.3 m above the flame structures produced a radiocarbon date. It dated to 250 yrs BP. Error bars were not presented but can be assumed to be between ±20 and ±75 years. Marco et al (2014:1451-1453) argued that a fresh brackish water lake behind the dam was present in some form during the late Ottoman period, possibly until the 18th century CE, due to the presence of flour mills on the west side of the dam which would have been powered by water from the dam. However, this may be contradicted by the presence of a pedogenic soil which formed above the permeable lacustrine unit presumably after the lake dried out. The pedogenic soil, however, contained freshwater fossils suggesting that the lake may have dried out, formed a soil horizon, and then filled intermittently again. It also has to be noted that some dates discussed in their paper (e.g. dating the the sharp lithological boundary between the permeable lacustrine unit and the overlying clayey unit to circa 18th century) disagree with the Century track in the stratigraphic column they presented in Figure 3. Historical evidence was based on Ambraseys and Barzanagi (1989) who, according to Marco et al (2014:1457), described "boats that were swept ashore from the Akko harbor (50 km north of the studied site), and a large wave that was reported from as far south as the Nile Delta", presumably due to the 25 Nov. 1759 CE Baalbek Quake. Although Marco et al (2014) suggested that the 25 Nov. 1759 CE Baalbek Quake was the most likely candidate for the flame structures, the date is, unfortunately, not well constrained.
Location (with hotlink)	Status	Intensity	Notes

Depth (cm.)	Thickness (cm.)	Seismite Type	Min. Intensity	Max. Intensity	Quake Assignment (Migowski)	Quake Assignment (Williams)
-13	10	4	8.2	9.0	1927 CE	not assigned
3	3	4	8.0	8.8	1837 CE	1834 CE
8	3	4	8.0	8.8	1822 CE	not assigned - 1822 CE Quake unlikely - too far away
22	2	4	8.0	8.8	1759 CE	not assigned
27	12	4	8.2	9.0	1712 CE	not assigned
41	4.8	4	8.1	8.9	1656 CE	not assigned
52	1	1	5.6	7.0	1588 CE	not assigned

Event	Thickness (cm.)	Seismite Type	Modeled Age (± 2σ)	Intensities	Quake Assignment (Ken-Tor)	Quake Assignment (Williams)
G	50	Liquefied Sand	1815 CE ± 145	unavailable for now - different mechanism	1834 CE Quake	not assigned
H	30	Liquefied Sand	1595 CE ± 75	unavailable for now - different mechanism	1927 CE Quake	not assigned

Ambraseys (2009)

AD 1759 Oct 30 Safad

The first shock occurred at dawn on Tuesday 30 October 1759 (N.S.), some time between 03 h 45 m and 04 h local time. Arabic sources give different dates, between 6 and 8 Rabi I, but they all agree that the earthquake happened on a Tuesday during the last quarter of the night or just before dawn, so there can be no doubt that the correct date is 30 October 1759.

The maximum effects of the earthquake were experienced in the region of Safed and to the northeast of the town. Safed was almost totally destroyed, together with its six synagogues, with the loss of 120 Jews and an unknown number of other inhabitants. It is said that Metawali villages in the mountains north of Safed about 2000 Ismailis and Amriyyas were killed.

The region demarcated by Safed, Khirbet Qasiun, Jisr Banat Yaqub and Nuaran as far as Qunaitra was almost totally destroyed and the caravanserai of Qunaitra collapsed with the loss of many lives and animals.

Damage extended to Saida, where a few houses collapsed and many suffered minor damage; no one was killed but the town was abandoned by its inhabitants, who camped at some distance from the town.

Acre, Hamat and Sassaa also suffered some damage and at the latter place the caravanserai was shattered, without casualties.

In Nazaret the shock was particularly severe and caused considerable damage locally. Damage in Nablus and Hamat was probably due to ground failures rather than to severe shaking. Also in Tiberias many houses sank into their foundations, and, with the exception of the church, which is located to the west of the town, near the lake, all buildings were damaged.

In Damascus one or two houses collapsed completely, a few were damaged and many were badly cracked. Arab writers give a long list of public buildings that after the earthquake were in need of restoration, particularly minarets, the top parts of which were dislodged or shattered by the shock. As a result of the earthquake a rock fall blocked the Qanawat water channel, leaving the city with a much reduced water supply for almost two weeks. In the densely inhabited plain of Ghutah around Damascus the shock ruined a few houses but otherwise caused little, if any, damage.

In Tripoli the shock caused some concern but apparently no damage; the earthquake was of rather long duration, causing water to slosh out of basins and ponds.

In Beiruth, some of the monasteries in the Kesrawan, in the district of Hisn al Akrad, Homs and Caesaraea, experienced similar effects. The shock was widely felt in Jerusalem, Hama, Antioch and Ladhkiya, in the latter causing some panic but no damage. In Aleppo ground movements persisted for almost one minute, causing little alarm. The shock was felt in Gaza, but not in Cairo or Cyprus.

The earthquake was felt very violently on board a sailing ship a day's sailing from Beiruth. A seismic sea wave flooded Acre to a height of about 2.5 m above normal sea level, as well as the docks of Tripoli, without causing any damage.

Fig. 2. Intensity distribution of the main shock of November 25, 1759.
Intensities in the MSK scale. The shock was felt as far as Alexandria
and the Nile Delta in the southwest, Karamania in Turkey in the northwest,
and Nakhichevan in the Caucasus in the northeast.
(from Ambraseys and Barazangi, 1989)

AD 1759 Nov 25 Litani

The main shock occurred early on Sunday night on 25 November 1759. All occidental sources give the same date for the earthquake, which occurred at 19 h 23 m local time, and give in detail the dates of all foreshocks and aftershocks. Arabic sources agree that the shock occurred during the first quarter of the night of Monday, reckoning from Sunday at sunset, but differ with respect to the date, which they place, either vaguely at the end of Rabi I, or on 4, 6 or 16 Rabi II a.H. 1173. It is significant that European sources do not mention any shocks that correspond to the alternative dates mentioned in Arabic documents, which must be misprints of the correct date 5 Rabi II a.H. 1173.

The epicentral region of the earthquake extended the region of the foreshock to the north, comprising a narrow zone that ran in a northeasterly direction for 120 km along the Litani and Bekaa valleys to the upper reaches of the Orontes River.

Much of the heavy damage and loss of life caused to the mountainous Metwali settlements in the southern part of the region was cumulative and includes the effects of the foreshock of 30 October, which was serious in this region.

Villages in the northern part of al-Hulah were totally destroyed and the citadel of Shakif Arnun was shattered. The large villages of Marjuyun, Kaukaba and Zebdin and the caravanserai of Nabatiya collapsed. Hasbaiya was almost totally destroyed, together with its caravanserai, where many people were killed. The churches of Birteh were ruined and Kafr Hatta was totally destroyed with the loss of 55 Metwalis. The Greek village of Qeitule was ruined and three people were killed. Also Joun was destroyed, its churches were damaged, and part of the nearby monastery of the Sisters of Mary collapsed.

Many small Christian villages, including Mukhtara, and the residence of the local ruler collapsed, with casualties. The large village of Dair Qamar, its churches, serais and many small settlements up the Fereida were almost totally ruined, with heavy loss of life.

Heavy damage extended to the district of Kesrawan, where many churches and houses belonging to the Christian community were also destroyed as far as Tannurin, Akura and Afka. The staging posts of Shaad and Labweh were shattered and Ras Baalbek was totally destroyed with loss of life. Baalbek and its castle were ruined and in part collapsed, with the loss of the whole population, except the sheikh and another person. Some of its ancient ruins were also affected: of the remaining standing columns of the peristyle of the Great Temple, three fell in the earthquake.

Sergaya, Zebedani, Hasaya and other smaller villages in the hills on either side of the Barada valley were either damaged beyond repair or destroyed, and 500 people and many animals were killed. Maithalun and its caravanserai were heavily damaged, and Saasaa and Qatana, including a number of substantial structures, were completely destroyed. In Beit Jann the earthquake and the fire that followed totally destroyed the village, in which many people perished. In the district of Sahra some villages between Daraiya and Dair al-Ashair were ruined and thereafter abandoned by their inhabitants.

Within this area of maximum damage the earthquake triggered many slides and rock falls, and caused changes in the stream and spring water. The stream that supplied water to Baalbek was dammed up by slides, and dried up for several days, while the source of the Maaser ash-Shuf dried up permanently.

Massive rock falls from cliffs and rockslides into ravines were reported from many places in the Lebanon, and landslides were abundant in the Anti-Lebanon and the Hermon. The largest rockslides were triggered from the Jabal Niha near Fareida and from above Mukhtara, where in large cracks running some distance opened up on the mountainside. The largest landslides occurred near Beit Jann and in the Barada valley above Hasaya.

As a result of the earthquake a series of ground ruptures many metres wide formed, running continuously along the southwestern side of the Bekaa Valley from northwest of Baalbek to as far as opposite Tripoli in the north, and from southwest of Baalbek to the plain of Satern(?), a total distance of about 100 km. These observations suggest that the earthquake was associated with a surface fault break at least 100 km long along the Bekaa valley, the exact location and attitude of which it is not possible to ascertain today. Field evidence, however, suggests surface faulting perhaps associated with this and the earthquake of 1759.

Further away from the epicentral region, damage was less serious but varied erratically from place to place and depended not only on the degree of shaking but also on the vulnerability of houses, which had been increased by the foreshock of 30 October and local soil conditions. Thus Safed, which had just been repaired after the first shock, whereafter most of its inhabitants had moved to Acre, was almost totally destroyed and about 70 Jews were killed. In contrast, neighbouring al-Rama and Deir Hanna suffered little, if any, damage. In Acre scarcely a house escaped without cracks in its walls and only a few dwellings, including part of the fortification towers, fell into the sea, without casualties. On the land side the rampart slid into the fosse. The town was evacuated for some time.

Villages along the coast suffered some damage, and in Saida many dwellings, including the quarter of the Europeans, storehouses and the citadel, were damaged and a few collapsed, killing about 20 people. As a result of the earthquake the harbour became unserviceable and the town was abandoned for many months, its inhabitants taking refuge in the plain behind the town.

The monastery of Dair al-Mukhalles and its dependencies suffered some reparable damage, and in Beirut, although many houses were badly damaged, none collapsed. The storehouse of the European merchants sustained some losses, as did their khan and residences. The effects of the shock on the coastal area of the Kesrawan district were not very serious, but in Tripoli a few dwellings and three minarets collapsed without casualties. However, many houses were cracked and the town was evacuated for some time. East of Tripoli, at Qusair, a few dwellings collapsed without loss of life, but the post houses of Zeraa, al-Gaa and Hermel were ruined.

In the densely populated district of Damascus damage was extremely non-uniform. At Saidnaya a few walls fell over and some houses were shattered without loss of life. However, the nearby villages of Maara and Tell, which had been damaged by the foreshock, were totally destroyed and the mosques and water mills damaged, with the loss of 425 lives. In contrast, damage was far less serious at nearby Darij. In Halboun and Mnin no one was killed but many houses were ruined, mosques damaged and bath houses destroyed. At Dimas the caravanserai and at Barzeh a few houses, including the mosque, suffered some damage. Mazza also was damaged but not as much as Dummar, which was ruined. At Arbin the baths collapsed and the walls of the mosque was badly cracked. Most of the houses in Harasta, together with the mosque and watermills, were damaged. The shock caused the collapse of the bath house at Douma and much of Khan al-Qusair. At Adhra and Maydas the walls of houses were fissured, and at Abadeh and Nashbiyeh a few houses, the mosque and the olive press were damaged.

A noticeable effect of the earthquake in the plain of Ghutah was the collapse of well shafts and slumping of the ground. In Damascus the shock caused great. panic, several casualties and considerable but reparable damage to houses that had already been affected by the foreshock. Of the 15 000, chiefly adobe, houses in the city, very few collapsed completely but many were badly cracked. The exception was in the large suburb of Salihiye, which is situated to the northwest of the city on high ground, where damage was exceptionally severe, particularly to houses that had been weakened by the earthquake of 30 October.

In Damascus a considerable number of public buildings, such as the Umayyad Mosque, other mosques and medrasas, gates, baths and walls, suffered various degrees of damage, some of it serious enough to lead to later collapse. A few minarets collapsed, causing additional damage to adjacent buildings, and many others were badly cracked. Part of the citadel crumbled into the Banas canal, damming its flow, and narrow streets were blocked by the collapse of high adobe fencing walls.

Further to the southwest, Quneitra, which had been damaged already by the foreshock and partly evacuated, was totally destroyed. In Nablus and Nazaret many houses that had been damaged by the foreshock collapsed, in Nablus killing a few people. In contrast, in Hamat, Dair Hanna, Caesarea and Haifa there were no casualties and relatively few houses needed repairs.

A part of the citadel of Tiberias, already in a parlous state, was ruined. In the region of Homs, Hama and Shaizar, with the exception of Qalat al-Burayj and Kara, where walls of houses were cracked, the earthquake caused considerable concern but no other damage. Further away the earthquake was felt strongly, at al-Arish, Gaza, Jerusalem and Jafa. In Ladikiya ground motions lasted for a long time, causing panic and generating cracks in a few walls. Near there the shock triggered a massive landslide that destroyed the old village of Shilfatiya.

In Antioch one or two old houses, a khan and part of the bazaar collapsed, killing a few people, but elsewhere there was no damage to speak of. In the densely settled region of Aleppo the shock was of long duration. In the city, except for a few old houses, none of the buildings and of the oldest minarets were actually thrown down, but the walls of a few dwellings were fissured.

Similar effects were reported from the southwest, from Jaba Druz and Tarba, where only a few hans were damaged.

The earthquake was widely felt in Alexandria for about two minutes, with slow oscillation of the ground. The following day the sea was discoloured over a large area.

References

There are many published and unpublished documents about this earthquake, the most important of which are given below.

[1] ACCM Archives de la Chambre de Commerce de Marseilles; ACCM AA:340 (Seyde) 17.12.59; 28.12.59; 22.01.60.

[2] AGS Archivo General de Simancas: Seccion Estado, leg. 5875, piez. 14:7.2.1760.

[3] ANF AE Archives Nationales: Arch. Affaires Etrangeres Paris; Bi/99 (Alexandrette) 24.12.59; Bi/1032.223-230 (Seyde) 22.12.59; Bi/1032. 246-247(Seyde) 28.12.59; Bi/1032. 248 (Seyde) 04.01.60; Bi/1032.285-290 (Seyde) 27.03.60; Bi/1120.14-26 (Tripoli) 04.02.60;Bi/1120. 46- 47 (Tripoli) 12.08.60; Bi/88.132-134 (Alep) 11.12.59; Bi/88.157-158 (Alep) 24.12.59; Bi/88.136-137 (Alep) 14.01.60; Bi/436.345-347 (Istanbul) 29.12.59; Bi/5 (Larnaka) 1759.

[4] ANR Annual Register, London 1760, 86; 1761, 96-98; 1764, 102-106.

[5]AMAE CADN: Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres, Centre des Archives Diplomatiques de Nantes Turquie (Alep 4). 21.11.1759; 07.12.1759; 12.12.1759; 24.12.1759; 28.01.1760; 19.04.1760; Turquie (Seyde) 07.12.1759; 17.12.1759; Turquie (Tripoli) 18.12.1759, 18.01.1760; Turquie (Jerusalem) 25.02.1760; 31.03.1760; 22.03.1760.

[6] ARG Allgemein. Rijksarch. 'S Gravenhage Legatie Turkije 393 (Aleppo) 11.12.59.

[7]BBA Basbakanlik Arivi Istanbul; BBA Ahkam D Sam-i serif 195; BBA D B5 M; BNE Bab-i Defteri, Bina Emini 15914; BBA CD Cevdet Dahiliye 1181 (20.05.1173); BBA CE Cevdet Evkaf Tasnifi 1823 (11.1173); 1596 (n.d.); 1823 (03.12.1173); 2219 (08.12.1773); BBA CM Cevdet Maliye 28549, 29081; BBA CN Cevdet Nafia 1038 (05.01.1172); BBA MD Miihimme Defteri 162:77-78 (04.1174); BBA MMD Maliyeden Miidevver Defterler 19198 6-8; 3160.2, 4-6, 7-9, 11-19, 29 30, 218, 282, 300-302, 542, 906 9999.272 (10.03.1184).

[8]BN Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris BN NAF 20236:115.

[9]PRO FO Public Records Office, Foreign Office Special Papers, London; SP.110/36, 42, 47 (Aleppo) 22.12.1759; SP 110/36, 39 (Aleppo) 04.12.1759; SP 110/36, 41 (Aleppo) 22.12.1759; SP 110/36, 42 (Aleppo) 22.12.1759; SP 110/36, 44 (Aleppo) 22.12.1759; SP 110/36, 45 (Aleppo) 22.12.1759.

[10] WIL WMS Ar. 274, fol. 166ab.

[11] Press reports: PAN 1760, 86-87; 1761, 96-98, 1764, 102- 106; PES 1760, 358-360; PGF 1760, 105-106; PHB 1760, 13; PLC 1760, 249, 550; PMDF 1760, 3:210-211; PMHP 1760, 2:141, 3:240-242; Nederlandsch Post-Ryder 1760, 229-232, 349-350; PNP 1760, 229-232, 349-350.

[12] Papers: Albini and Stucchi (1992), Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989), Anonymous (1760a, b, c), Anonymous (1787), Anonymous (1956), Bachiene (1766), al- Bidiri, in Taher (1974), Bramsen (1818), Braik (1982), al-Budayiri (1959), Burton and Drake (1872, i. 37, 96), Charles-Roux (1928), Clouzot (1914), Cousinery (1760), Daeron et al. (2005), Dahmaan (1948, 1982), Dienner (1886), Donati (1759), F.CH.R. (1927), Findikli (1978), Golubovich (1922), Guys (1822), Hakobyan (1956), Ibn al-Ghazzi (1948), Kitto (1844, i. 89-90), Lemmens (1898, 1304-307, 337-342), Maas (1775, iv. 134), Mariti (1792, i. 352-354), al-Muradi 83), Paulian (1761, iii. 341), Rabbi Simha (1946, 382-423), Rabbi Yosef (1971, 286- 301), Rafeq (1966, 227), Rivkind (1928, 124-125), Russell (1769, 529-531), Skaf (1975, 286-287), Squire (1820, 304-307), Taher (1974/5, 52-108), Thiollet (1977, 176), al'Umari (f. 242v), Vasif (Tarih, i. 177-178), Volney (1787, i. 304, ii. 187, 212, 238-47, 269-271) and Yaari (1946, 382- 423; 1951, 28, 349-363).

References

Ambraseys, N. N. (2009). Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East: a multidisciplinary study of seismicity up to 1900.

Zohar et. al. (2016)

1759 Oct 30 (03:45)

Time Uncertainty n/a
Type of Quake Foreshock (Single?)
Reliability Very High
Zone central (Israel and southern Lebanon), North (northern Lebanon and Syria)
Most Damaged or felt locations Safed

Strong shock in northern Israel-Southern Lebanon in the area confined to Safed-Tiberias-Benot Ya'akov bridge and Quneitra. Ambraseys (2009): Probably a foreshock of the Nov 25 earthquake. Daeron et al. (2005) claim that this is not a foreshock but rather separate earthquake acting on the Rachaya segment.

Reported damaged localities

Akko
Quneitra
Benot Yaaqov Bridge
Sassa
Nazareth
Safed
Tiberias
Nablus

Estimated magnitude in previous studies

Ms ~ 6.6 Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989)
6.5 Ben-Menahem (1991)

Average magnitude 6.5
Size degree Str
Casualties >10

1759 Nov 25 (19:23)

Time Uncertainty n/a
Type of Quake Foreshock, Main and Aftershock
Reliability Very High
Zone Central (Israel and southern Lebanon), North (northern Lebanon and Syria)
Most Damaged or felt locations Litany, Northern Palestine

A most destructive earthquake that (Ambraseys, 2009) generated landslides, changes in water course and ground breakage in south Lebanon and northern Galilee (Ambraseys, 2009). Many reporting sources. Migowski et al. (2004) suggest it was recorded in lacustrine sediments along the Dead Sea shores

Reported damaged localities

Hula
Deir Hanna
Safed, Nabatiya
Nablus
Sassa
Hermon Mt.
Akko
Beit-Jann
Hasbaya
Deir Hanna
Quneitra
Caesarea
Marjuyun
Tiberias
Haifa
el-Rama

Estimated magnitude in previous studies

7.4 Migowski et al. (2004)
MS ~ 7.4 Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989)
Ms = 7.4 Ambraseys and Jackson (1998), Wells and Coppersmith (1994)
7 <= M <= 7.2 Gomez et al. (2003)
7.4 Ben-Menahem (1991)

Average magnitude 7.3
Size degree Maj
Casualties >10

Salamon et. al. (2011)

1759 10 30 03:45 LT: Sea wave flooded Acre and docks at Tripoli

According to Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989) and Ambraseys (2009), this earthquake was felt onboard ships a days sailing from Beirut and caused a seismic sea wave that flooded Acre to a height of 2.5 m above normal sea level and the docks at Tripoli, but there was no apparent damage. The tsunami is also mentioned by Shalem (1956), Ambraseys (1962), and Amiran et al. (1994), who located it along the coasts of Israel and Lebanon and note that in Acre The water rose to 8' ... (~2.5 m). This is the only case where the inundation height (height of the flooding water above sea level) is documented in historical sources. Unfortunately, this cannot be simply interpreted as the actual inundation depth (height of the tsunami above the ground) because the location and height of the flooded area above sea level are not mentioned.

The cause of the tsunami was attributed to an M_S ~6.6 earthquake in southern Lebanon and northern Israel (Ambraseys and Barazangi, 1989; Amiran et al., 1994). Ben-Menahem (1991) mentions a seiche in the Sea of Galilee. A paleoseismic study by Gomez et al. (2001, 2003), later interpreted by Daeron et al. (2005), relates the earthquake to the Rachaiya fault, Syria, and paleo- and archaeoseismic investigations by Marco et al. (1997, 2005) and Ellenblum et al. (1998), suggest the surface rupture extended southwards to the Jordan gorge segment.

Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989) describe a tsunami for each of the two earthquakes in this sequence (October 30 and November 25), while Amiran et al. (1994) and Soloviev et al. (2000) determine that a tsunami followed the first earthquake only.

1759 11 25 19:23 LT: Sea wave in Acre and as far as the Nile Delta

For the second earthquake in this sequence, Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989) mention a seismic sea wave that was noted as far south as the Nile Delta, where the sea was discolored for many days, but no damage occurred. In Acre, ships were thrown onto the shore, and there were some casualties. Ambraseys (2009), however, notes that the sea in Alexandria was discolored over a large area the day after the earthquake, without mentioning the tsunami and other effects. Amiran et al. (1994) and Soloviev et al. (2000) do not list a tsunami for the November event.

A destructive earthquake in southern Lebanon and northern Israel likely caused this tsunami. This is described by Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989):

A series of ground ruptures many yards wide were formed¦ along the Bekaa Valley, from Baalbek to opposite Tripoli to the plain of Satern... a total distance of about 100 km. Most probably however, the displacement occurred along the Yammouneh fault.

Gomez et al. (2001) and Daeron et al. (2005), however, suspect the rupture was along the Serghaya fault, based on paleoseismic evidence. The magnitude estimate given by Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989) was M_S = 7.4, Ambraseys and Jackson (1998), assumed this was a large event, and Ambraseys (2006) estimated M_S = 7.5.

References

Salamon, A., et al. (2011). "A critical evaluation of tsunami records reported for the Levant Coast from the second millennium bce to the present." Isr. J. Earth Sci. 58: 327-354.

Sbeinati et al (2005)

〈143〉 1759 October 30, 03:45 (local time)

Al-Qunaytra: VIII
Safad: VII
Acre: VI
An-Nasra: VI
Sidon: VI
Saasaa: VI
Damascus: V
Aleppo: IV
Al-Quds: IV
Beirut: IV
Antioch: IV
Gaza: IV
Cyprus: IV

Landslides at the west of Damascus and Tabariya
Tsunami at Acre and Tripoli
Aftershocks

Parametric catalogues

Plassard and Kogoj (1981): : 1759 October 30, I = VIII (in Lebanon), it was an earthquake that caused destruction in Safad and large damage in Al-Chouf (Jalfaq).
Ben-Menahem (1979):1759, October 30, 02 h, 33.0N, 35.5E, I₀ = IX, M_L = 6.5, heavy destruction and many casualties in Safad. Tiberias city wall overthrown. Area of damage extend to Damascus. Tsunami in the sea of Galilee. Damage in Sidon MM=VII (Amiran; Barslawy; Plassard and Kogoj; Sieberg; Willis).

Seismological compilations

Sieberg (1932): 1759 October, a set of shocks started for three months in ... and Bekaa Valley. It was said that 30 000 persons were killed due to these events, from which 20 000 deaths in Bekaa.

Monographs

Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989)

1759 October 30, 33.1N-35.6E, M_S = 6.6. This earthquake is considered as a foreshock of the main event of November 25. It was affected the region of Safad and a mountain area to the NE where many villages were destroyed with the loss of about 2000 lives. Safad and Qunaitra were almost totally ruined, and many of the inhabitants were killed. In Sidon, Saasaa, Nazareth and Acre, few houses collapsed without casualties. In and around Damascus, this earthquake caused considerable concern and widespread minor damage, one or two houses collapsed, a few were damaged, many were cracked, many public buildings such as minarets and tall buildings were damaged, the water supply of Damascus was affected by rock falls. In Tiberias, a landslide took place but without loss of life. Antioch, Aleppo, Jerusalem and Gaza were felt, and it was reported by sailing boats between Cyprus and Beirut. In Acre and Tripoli, there was a seismic sea wave that flooded them without damage. This earthquake was followed by a series of strong aftershocks, some of which were felt as far as Aleppo, that added to the damage (Al-Budayri; ANF; Archives British Legations; Archives Historiques Ch. Comm. Marseille; Ben Zvi; Dahman; Findikli; Vitaliano; Yaari).

Fig. 20. Map of intensity distribution for November 25, 1759 earthquake
(Ambraseys and Barazangi, 1989). (from Sbeinati et al, 2005)

〈144〉 1759 November 25, 19:23 (local time)

Baalbak: >VIII
Serghaya: >VIII
Zabadani: >VIII
Ras Baalbak: VIII
Al-Qunaytra: VIII
Damascus: VII-VIII
Beirut: VII-VIII
Sidon: VII-VIII
Safad: VII-VIII
Sur: VII-VIII
Tripoli: VII
Acre: VII
Homs: VI-VII
Hama: VI-VII
An-Nasra: VI-VII
Hosn Al-Akrad: VI-VII
Lattakia: V-VI
Al-Quds: V-VI
Gaza: V-VI
Antioch: V-VI
Aleppo: V
Tarba: V
Anatolia: IV
Egypt: IV

Faulting along the Bekaa valley
Landslides near Mukhtara and Deir Marjrjos
Tsunami at Acre
Aftershocks

Parametric catalogues

Plassard and Kogoj (1981): 1759 November 25, I = X, it was an earthquake that caused destruction in Shouf and 100 persons were killed, it also caused destruction in Baalbak, Ras Baalbak, Hasbaya, Beit Jin and Northern Syria (Jalfaq; Perrey; Sieberg).
Ben-Menahem (1979): 1759 November 25, 33.8N, 36.2 E, I0= X-XI, Ml= 6.8, great destruction at Baalbak. A part of Damascus destroyed. Damaged area extends to Antioch and Yafa. Safad MM = VIII. Many thousands of persons were reported to have perished in the Bekaa (Amiran; Plassard and Kogoj; Seiberg).

Seismological compilations

Sieberg (1932): 1759 November 25, a destructive earthquake destroyed 1/3 of Damascus. Many places in Lebanon were strongly damaged. In Baalbak, there was heavy damage, 12 huge columns of the Temple fell down. It was felt in Antioch and Yafa. Aftershocks continued to the end of the month, causing a few houses to fell.

Monographs

– Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989): 1759 November 25, 33.7N-35.9E, M_S= 7.4, tsunami and faulting. It is the main shock of the 1759 earthquakes, lasted about 50 s. It destroyed totally all villages in a narrow zone extending to the NE for about 120 km along the Litani and the Bekaa Valleys into the upper reaches of the Orontes River in NW Syria. Safad was almost totally destroyed with loss of life. The Metwali settlements, Bshara and in the Shouf region, were razed to the ground. Near Mukhtara and Mar Djerjos, rock falls and landslides took place and added to the damage. In Serghaya and Hasbaya, there was heavy destruction. Baalbak was totally destroyed with great loss of life, a landslide was dammed the supplied water up. Heavy damage extended to Ras Baalbak. The available evidence suggests that within this area of maximum damage the earthquake was associated with extensive faulting for at least 100 km. In Damascus district, many villages in the Ghutah and Marj suffered mainly from foundation failures. The shock caused great panic in Damascus with several casualties and damage, of the 15000 mainly adobe houses, very few collapsed completely but many were badly cracked, the Umayyad mosque, other mosques, medreses, gates, baths and walls suffered different degrees of damage, a few minarets were thrown down causing additional damage to adjacent houses, part of the Damascus Citadel crumbled into the Banas canal damming its flow, in Salihiyeh (north part of Damascus), damage was more serious, European consuls estimated loss of life at a few handred lives as compared to 6000-20000 given by local sources in Damascus. It was strongly felt in Antioch and Lattakia, causing some panic and collapse of a number of old houses. In Aleppo, it lasted two minutes and a few walls were fissured. It was also felt in Tarba, Gaza and Al-Arish and a few old Khans were damaged. The shock was felt throughout Anatolia as far as Nakhichevan and in Egypt. A seismic sea wave associated with this earthquake was noted as far south as the Nile Delta without any damage. In Acre, ships were thrown onto the shore with some casualties. The total estimated killed number by various temporary writrers vary between 10000-40000. Aftershocks continued to be felt till August 1760 (Al-Budayri; Archives British Legations; Archives Historiques Ch. Comm. Marseille; ANF; Ben Zvi; Dahman; Findikli; Vitaliano; Yaari).

References

Sbeinati, M. R., R. Darawcheh, and M. Monty (2005). "The historical earthquakes of Syria: An analysis of large and moderate earthquakes from 1365 B.C. to 1900 A.D.", Ann. Geophys. 48(3): 347-435.

Ambraseys and Jackson (1998)

Surface Faulting during the 25 Nov. 1759 CE Baalbek Quake

Ambraseys and Jackson (1998) listed a surface fault break for the 25 Nov. 1759 CE Baalbek Quake.

**Surface Fault Break from Ambraseys and Jackson (1998)**
Name	Date	Lat.(°N)	Long.(°E)	M_S	Azimuth (°)	Mechanism	Length (km.)	Location	Country
Baalbek Quake	25 Nov. 1759	33.7	35.9	7.4	20	Left-Lateral	100	Bekaa	Lebanon

The reference for this surface faulting is Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989) who state in their abstract

The M_S ≈ 7+ earthquake on November 25, 1759, almost certainly produced surface faulting probably along the Yammouneh fault in the Bekaa valley

In their Magnitude estimates for this earthquake, Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989) assumed a Rupture Length of 100 km. Later in their paper, Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989:4010) cite an unnamed source for the surface faulting evidence .

It is said that as a result of the earthquake, a series of ground ruptures many yards wide were formed running continuously along the Bekaa valley, to the north of Baalbek as far as opposite Tripoli and to the southwest to the plain of Satern, a total distance of about 100 km. This and other contemporary descriptions of the effects of the earthquake clearly suggest faulting, at least 100 km long, the exact location and attitude of which is not possible to ascertain today. Most probably, however, the displacement occurred along the Yammouneh fault, which runs along the total length of the Bekaa valley (see Figure lb).

Daeron et al (2005) may have solved the mystery of Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989:4010)'s mysterious source. Daeron et al (2005:530) discussed this as follows:

Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989, p. 4010) mentioned 100-km-long surface ruptures in the Beqaa in November 1759, but stated that
the exact location and attitude of (these ruptures) is [sic] not possible to ascertain today.
Nevertheless, they inferred the Yammouneh fault to be the most likely candidate. Building on this inference, Ellenblum et al. (1998) referred to Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989) as quoting a description of ground breaks on the Yammouneh fault by the French ambassador in Beirut. Our own investigation of the French sources cited by Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989, p. 4010) yielded only a second-hand account by the French consul in Saida:

English from Daeron et al (2005:530)

One claims that [ . . . ] on the Baalbek side (or possibly: near Baalbek) pulling toward the plain the earth cracked open by more than [~6 m] and that this crack extends for over twenty leagues (~80 km) (Archives Nationales, Paris, B1/1032/1959-60).

French from Daeron (2005:120 n.1)

On pretend que [...] du cote de Balbec en tirans vers la plaine la terre s’est entrouverte de plus de trois toises et que cette ouverture dure plus de vingt lieues. (Archives Nationales, Paris, B1/1032/1959-60 provided by Daeron, 2005:120 n.1)

The wording suggests that this rupture took place on one side of the Beqaa, and the mention of Baalbek points to the east side, thus to the Serghaya fault.

Although this potential fault break reported by Ambraseys and Jackson (1998) may seem dubious, their assumption that the 25 Nov. 1759 CE Baalbek Quake created surface faulting seems to be correct. They just assumed that it broke the wrong fault. Daeron et al (2005:529-530) presented surface faulting evidence that suggested younger less weathered fault scarplets on the Rachaıya-Serghaya faults and fresh mole-tracks on the Rachaıya fault [both closer to Baalbek] were associated with one of the 1759 CE fault breaks while older more weathered faults scarplets on the Yammouneh fault [farther from Baalbek] were associated with one of the the 1202 CE earthquakes.

Scaling Relationships (with Calculators)

Figures

Fig. 3 Regression Results from Ambraseys and Jackson (1998)

Fig. 3

Results of regression between Ms and log (L ). Curve 1 is eq. (2); curve 2 is eq. (3); curve 3 is eq. (4); curve 4 is eq. (11). L is the length of faulting in kilometres. Note the effect of the sample distribution on the dependent variable for orthogonal and non-orthogonal regression

Ambraseys and Jackson (1998)

Estimating Magnitude from Rupture Length

For Surface Magnitude (M_S) and Moment Magnitude (M_W) estimates based on Rupture Length (L) in km., Ambraseys and Jackson (1998) presented the following equations:

M_S = 5.13 + 1.14 log(L)        (2)

M_S = 5.27 + 1.04 log(L)        (3)

M_W = 4.9 + 1.33 log(L)         (11)^note

while noting that Equation (3) is almost identical to that derived by Wells and Coppersmith (1994). These equations are coded into calculators below.

Ambraseys and Jackson (1998:397) noted the following

it is important, particularly for palaeoseismological investigations, to have some indication of whether the rupture length and offset estimated from historical sources are likely to be seriously under- or overestimated, given the magnitude of the event. This is a principal use of magnitude—length relationships. For an assessment of individual events or particular regions, it may be more informative to make such estimates from a combination of first principles and more closely constrained empirical relationships, along the following lines:

for earthquakes that rupture the entire thickness (d) of the seismogenic upper crust, the downdip width of the fault is d/sinϴ, where ϴ is the fault dip, and the moment is then

M_o = (μcd/sin ϴ)L²       (8)

where

µ is the rigidity modulus

c is the ratio of average displacement (u) to fault length (L), which is observed to be close to 5 x 10^-5 for intracontinental earthquakes (Scholz 1982; Scholz et al. 1986)

both observationally and theoretically it is known that for such earthquakes the relationship between moment and magnitude (M, whether M_S or M_W ) is of the form

log(M_o)= A + BM       (9)

where A and B are constants, with B ≈ 1.5 (e.g. Kanamori and Anderson 1975; Ekstrom and Dziewonski 1988))

combining these expressions gives a relationship between moment and fault length of the form

M = (1/B) log(µcd/sin ϴ) — (A/B) + (2/B) (log L)       (10)

For illustration, if we take

µ=3 x 10¹⁰ N m^-2

c = 5 x 10^-5

A = 9.0 (for M_o in units of N m, see Ekstrom and Dziewonski 1988)

B=1.5

then for a seismogenic layer of thickness d=15 km and a vertical strike-slip fault (ϴ = 90°), the relationship is

M_W = 4.9+1.33L        (11)

with L in kilometres, which is similar to the empirical relationships given above and in Wells & Coppersmith (1994) and is a reasonable fit to the earthquakes of M ≥ 6.0 in Fig. 3

The advantage of this approach over some global empirical relationship is that it is more explicit where the assumptions are: A is known to vary regionally (Ekstrom & Dziewonski 1988) and so is d. Moreover, for earthquakes in which the fault length is small compared with the seismogenic thickness, the relationships between moment and magnitude and between moment and fault length are both known to be different from those given above, such that B≈1.0 (Ekstrom and Dziewonski 1988) and M_o is proportional to L³. Thus a single relationship over the whole magnitude range of Fig. 3 (and over the magnitude ranges discussed by Wells & Coppersmith 1994) is not likely to be valid anyway. The explicit approach illustrated here is therefore more likely to be useful for detailed palaeoseismological investigation of specific events.

Calculators

Equation 2 of Ambraseys and Jackson (1998) - Estimate Surface Magnitude (M_S) from Rupture Length (L)

Variable	Input	Units	Variable Name
L		km.	Rupture Length
Variable	Output	Units	Notes
M_S		unitless	Surface Magnitude

Equation 3 of Ambraseys and Jackson (1998) - Estimate Surface Magnitude (M_S) from Rupture Length (L)

Variable	Input	Units	Variable Name
L		km.	Rupture Length
Variable	Output	Units	Notes
M_S		unitless	Surface Magnitude

Equation 11 of Ambraseys and Jackson (1998) - Estimate Moment Magnitude (M_W) from Rupture Length (L)

Variable	Input	Units	Variable Name
L		km.	Rupture Length
Variable	Output	Units	Notes
M_W		unitless	Moment Magnitude

Equation 10 of Ambraseys and Jackson (1998) - Estimate Magnitude from lots of parameters - not yet working

Variable	Input	Units	Variable Name
L		km.	Rupture Length
d		km.	Rupture Thickness
ϴ		degrees	Dip Angle
B			constant
A			constant
µ		N m^-2	Rigidity Modulus
c			ratio of average displacement (u) to fault length (L)
Variable	Output	Units	Notes
M		unitless	Magnitude

Estimating Magnitude from an Isoseismal Map

Ambraseys and Jackson (1998) produced an equation to estimate Surface Magnitude (M_S) from the average radii of isoseismals (r_i) at a specific value of Intensity (I_i).

M_S = −1.54+0.65(I_i)+0.0029(R_i)+2.14 log(R_i)+0.32p (1)

where

R_i =(r_i²+9.7²)^0.5
r, in kilometres, is the mean isoseismal radius of intensity I
p is zero for mean values and one for 84 percentile values (Ambraseys 1992).

Ambraseys and Jackson (1998:395-396) noted that with few exceptions, macroseismic data for the historical period are scanty and the magnitudes that can be calculated from eq. (1) are rather uncertain. They suggested in such cases to use the magnitude estimate to group earthquakes into three broad categories

V, very large events with M. values probably exceeding 8.0
L, large shocks of magnitude between 7.0 and 8.0
M, medium events with M. ranging between 6.0 and 7.0

Calculators

Estimate Surface Magnitude (M_S) from Avg. radii of isoseismals (r_i) at a specific value of Intensity (I_i)

Variable	Input	Units	Variable Name
r_i		km.	Mean isoseismal radius for a given Intensity I
I_i		unitless	The given Intensity
p		unitless	p=0 for mean values. p=1 for 84 percentile values (Ambraseys, 1992)
Variable	Output	Units	Notes
M_S		unitless	Surface Magnitude

References

Ambraseys, N., 1992. Soil mechanics and engineering seismology Invited Lecture, Proc. 2nd Natl. Conf. Geotechn. Eng., Thessaloniki, pp. xxi–xlii.

References

Ambraseys and Jackson (1998). "Faulting associated with historical and recent earthquakes in the Eastern Mediterranean region." Geophysical Journal International 133(2): 390-406.

Ben-Menahem (1991)

Fig. 11. During the earthquake of November 25, 1759
(M_L = 7.4), three columns of the collonade
of the Temple of "Jupiter Heliopolitanus" at Baalbeck
(Lebanon) fell or were dislodged. One of these is seen
here. JW: He's right that 3 columns likely fell but this
photo does not capture the correct column.
(from Ben-Menahem, 1991)

**Estimated Seismic Parameters from Ben-Menahem (1991)**
Name	Date (1759 CE)	Lat. (°N)	Long. (°E)	I₀	M_L	Discussion
Safed Quake	30 Oct.	33.7	35.9	n/a	6.5	City walls [of Tiberias] overthrown. Great damage. Tsunami in the Sea of Galilee. Many casualties. This event preceded the major earthquake of November 25, 1759 which caused much less damage at Tiberias.
Baalbek Quake	25 Nov.	33.7	35.9	10-11	7.4	Great destruction at Baalbek. A part of Damascus destroyed. Damage area extends to Antioch and Jaffa. Safed. Many thousands perished in the Beka'a. A foreshock occurred on October 30. Only six columns of the colonnade of the temple of "Jupiter Heliopolitanus" at Baalbeck (the biblical Baalgad mentioned in Josh II, 17) remained standing after this earthquake. This temple was built by Emperor Antonius Pius in 150. It had originally 54 columns (h = 18.3 m, D = 2.5 m). Two fell during the local earthquake of 565 (M_L = 6.7), one fell as a result of the local earthquake of 991 (M_L = 6.5), 11 fell by the earthquakes of 1157 (Δ = 120 km) and 1170 (Δ = 90 km). Finally, 31 columns fell as a result of the local earthquake of 1202 (M_L = 7.5), and three fell due to the 1759 event (M_L = 7.4) (Figure 11).

Ben-Menahem's (1991) mysterious sources may be some combination of Ben-Menahem [1979], Avissar (1973), Amiran [1951], Ergin et al. [1967], Plassard and Kogoj [1968], Sieberg [1932a, 12], Willis [1928], and/or an unnamed source.

References

Ben-Menahem, A. (1991). "Four Thousand Years of Seismicity along the Dead Sea rift." Journal of Geophysical Research 96((no. B12), 20): 195-120, 216.

Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989)

Figures

Fig. 1a Location Map with Historical Earthquakes from Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989)

Fig. 1a

Location map of study area (inset) showing distribution of large historical earthquakes under investigation

Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989)
Fig. 2 Intensity distribution of the main shock of November 25, 1759 from Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989)

Fig. 2

Intensity distribution of the main shock of November 25, 1759. Intensities in the MSK scale. The shock was felt as far as Alexandria and the Nile Delta in the southwest, Karamania in Turkey in the northwest, and Nakhichevan in the Caucasus in the northeast

Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989)

Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989) analyzed macroseismic data based on original sources (rather than earthquake catalogs) and produced Magnitude Estimates for both the 30 Oct. Safed Quake and the 25 Nov. Baalbek Quake. Their estimates are shown in the table below and some of their discussion are are shown in the collapsible panels below.

Name	Type of Shock	Date	Local Time	M_S
Safed Quake	Foreshock	30 Oct. 1759 CE	0345	≈ 6.6
Baalbek Quake	Main shock	25 Nov. 1759 CE	1923	≈ 7.4

Original Sources

Sources of information included

British and French consular correspondence from Turkey, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt
diaries and letters written by merchants, clerics, and church officials
private correspondence of the Jewish communities in the region
reports and local histories written by contemporary observers and near-contemporary chroniclers
accounts left by travelers who visited the affected region shortly after the earthquake
press reports
- Archives Historiques Ch. Comm. Marseille: AA/340/1759-60
- Zalzal sanat 1173, edited by M. A. Dahman, in al-Mashriq, 42, 333-37, 1948
- Archives Natl. Paris: B1/1032/1959-60
- Edut bi-Jhossef, edited by Ben Zvi, Daron. 40, Jerusalem, 1933
- Ahmad al-Budayri, Hawadith Dimashq al-yawmiyya, edited by A. I. Karim, Cairo, 1959
- Findikli, Mur'it-tavanli, Bayazit Library MS.F.429, Istanbul
- Dahman, M. A., Fi rihab Dimishq, published by Dar Al-Fukr in Damascus, 1982
- Public Record Office, Archives British Legations: Levant Co. SP/110:36
- Tarih-i Vasif, i:177, Istanbul, 1804
- Yaari, A. Sinai: 28.349, Jerusalem, 1951
- Vitaliano Donati, Giornale del viaggio, Bibl. Reale MS. 291, Torino

30 Oct. 1759 CE Safed Quake

It affected the region of Safad and a mountain area to the northeast where many villages were destroyed with the loss of about 2000 lives, mainly among the Metwalis and Amriyyas. Safad and Qunaitra (see Figures 1 and 2) were almost totally ruined, and many of the inhabitants were killed, while others left the towns. Damage extended to Saida, where a few houses collapsed, as well as to Saasaa, Nazareth, and Acre, where private and public buildings were ruined, but without casualties. In Damascus (one of the largest population centers in the region) and in the surrounding plain of Ghutah, the shock caused considerable concern and widespread minor damage. One or two houses collapsed, a few were damaged, and many were cracked. Many public buildings, particularly minarets (of mosques) and tall buildings, were damaged to the extent that repairs were needed after the earthquake, and the water supply of the city was affected by rock falls that blocked the Qanawat water supply channel. Farther away, damage was widespread, in Tiberias (see Figure 2) mainly because of foundation failures of houses built on soft ground and elsewhere because of landslides, but without loss of life. The shock was rather strongly felt as far as Antioch, Aleppo, Jerusalem, and Gaza (see Figure 2), and it was reported by sailing boats between Cyprus and Beirut. A seismic sea wave flooded Acre and the docks at Tripoli, but there was no apparent damage. This earthquake was followed by a series of strong aftershocks, some of which were felt as far as Aleppo, that added to the damage.

25 Nov. 1759 CE Baalbek Quake

It was of long duration, about 50 s, and almost totally destroyed all villages in a narrow zone extending to the northeast for about 120 km along the Litani and the Bekaa valleys into the upper reaches of the Orontes river in northwest Syria. The epicentral region of this earthquake comprised the meizoseismal area of the foreshock of October 30, where the destruction was cumulative. Contemporary sources mention over 100 places for which an assessment of damage can be made, on which basis Figure 2 was drawn. Safed, rebuilt after the first shock but with a much reduced population, was almost totally destroyed with loss of life. The Metwali settlements to the north were razed to the ground, and those in Bshara and in the Shouf region suffered likewise. Here many monasteries and cloisters were destroyed, and near Mukhtara and Mar Djordjos rock falls and landslides added to the damage. Destruction was equally heavy in the upper reaches of the Barada river at Serghaya and Hasbaya, and Baalbek was totally destroyed with great loss of life (see Figure 2). The stream that supplied water to Baalbek was dammed up, presumably by slides, and dried up for several days. Heavy damage extended to Ras Baalbek. The available evidence suggests that within this area of maximum damage the earthquake was associated with extensive faulting. It is said that as a result of the earthquake, a series of ground ruptures many yards wide were formed running continuously along the Bekaa valley, to the north of Baalbek as far as opposite Tripoli and to the southwest to the plain of Satern, a total distance of about 100 km. This and other contemporary descriptions of the effects of the earthquake clearly suggest faulting, at least 100 km long, the exact location and attitude of which is not possible to ascertain today. Most probably, however, the displacement occurred along the Yammouneh fault, which runs along the total length of the Bekaa valley (see Figure lb).

Farther away, damage was serious but nonuniform. Some of the places that had been damaged by the earthquake of October 30 were ruined, and others suffered varying degrees of damage, particularly the densely populated district of Damascus. Here, villages in the Ghutah and Marj around Damascus suffered mainly from foundation failures, a noticeable effect of the earthquake being the collapse of well shafts in the plains. In Damascus the shock caused great panic, several casualties, and considerable, but generally reparable, damage. Of the approximately 15,000 mainly adobe houses in the city, very few collapsed completely, but many were badly cracked. A large number of public buildings, the Umayyad mosque, other mosques and medreses (i.e., schools), gates, baths, and walls suffered different degrees of damage, some of them serious and leading to partial collapse. A few minarets were thrown down causing additional damage to adjacent houses, and many others were badly cracked. Part of the citadel in the center of the city crumbled into the Banas canal damming its flow, and narrow streets were blocked by the collapse of high adobe fencing walls. Many of the buildings that suffered most had already been damaged by the foreshock, particularly minarets and large domes of mosques. On higher ground, in the district of Salihiyeh (a suburb of Damascus), damage was more serious. However, overall damage and loss of life in the city seems to have been far less serious than some of the local reports imply. More sober accounts written by European consuls estimate the loss of life in Damascus at a few hundred lives, as compared to 6000-20,000 given by local sources, and internal evidence in these sources suggests that the shock was not in fact all that destructive. For example, the day after the earthquake the people were ordered to gather in mosques for prayers, and many camped on the roofs of their houses, an indication that most buildings remained intact.

The earthquake was strongly felt in Antioch and Ladhikiya (see Figure 2), causing some panic and the collapse of a number of old houses. In Aleppo, where the shock lasted almost 2 min, a few walls were fissured. Similar effects were reported from Tarba, Gaza, and Al Arish (Figure 2), and a few old khans (caravan stations) were damaged.

The shock was felt throughout Anatolia as far as Nakhichevan, 1100 km away, and in Egypt. A seismic sea wave associated with the earthquake was noted as far south as the Nile Delta, where the sea was discolored for many days, but it caused no damage there. In Acre, ships were thrown onto the shore, and there were some casualties.

The number of people killed in this earthquake is difficult to assess. Estimates made by various contemporary writers vary between 10,000 and 40,000. It is said that in the Bekaa valley alone 20,000 people were killed and as many in the Ghutah region of Damascus. Some of these figures refer only to losses of men, excluding women and children, and others refer generally to more than one district. It is reasonable to assume that the total loss of life was very considerable.

Aftershocks continued to be felt till August 1760. Of these, the shocks of November 26 and December 5, 12, and 30 caused additional damage and loss of life, mainly in the region of Baalbek, Tripoli, and Homs, and slight damage as far as Aleppo.

Figure 2 shows the generalized isoseismal map of the earthquake of November 25, 1759. Its epicentral region and probable fault break coincide with the stepover of the north-south trending Dead Sea fault system and also with the epicentral region of the earlier earthquake of May 20, 1202 (see Figure la).

Magnitude Assessment

JW: Sample numbers from Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989) below are for the 25 Nov. Baalbek Quake. Calculators are seeded with values to reproduce their assessment but input values can be adjusted allowing for experimentation. Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989)'s Magnitude assessment now follows:

No earthquake of comparable magnitude has occurred in this part of the Middle East during the present century that can be used to calibrate the magnitude of the 1759 event. However, if we assume that this earthquake was associated with a 100-km-long, strike-slip fault break, we may assess the surface wave magnitude of the event from

M_S = 4.63 + 1.43 log(L) (1)

where L is the observed or inferred length of faulting in km derived for earthquakes in the Middle East [Ambraseys, 1988]. In the present case, equation (1) predicts M_S = 7.5. Alternatively, we may use the calibration formula based on the average radii of isoseismals R_i (in km) of intensity I_i (MSK) derived for Turkey, i.e.,

M_F = —0.53 + 0.58(I_i) + 1.96x10^-3(R_i) + 1.831 log(R_i) (2)

where M_F is the equivalent felt magnitude to M_S [Ambraseys and Finkel, 1987]. From the isoseismals in Figure 2 and using equation (2) we find the average magnitude to be M_S = 7.2. Noticing that the isoseismals in Figure 2 are likely to be underestimated in an east-west direction because of the lack of data, an average value of M_S = 7.4 seems reasonable. Equations (1) and (2) have also been used to assess magnitudes for the earthquakes shown in Table 1. We must add a word of warning. In deriving equation (2) the data from earthquakes in southeastern Turkey are very limited, so that this equation may not so accurately predict the attenuation of intensity in the northern part of the Dead Sea fault system. The indication from limited macro-seismic data for M_S LT 6.5 in the southern part of the Dead Sea fault system is that attenuation there is slower than that given by equation (2) and that this equation may overestimate magnitudes by perhaps as much as 0.3 on average.

Calculators

Equation 1 - Estimate Surface Magnitude (M_S) from Rupture Length (L)

Variable	Input	Units	Variable Name
L		km.	Rupture Length
Variable	Output	Units	Notes
M_S		unitless	Surface Magnitude

Equation 2 - Estimate Felt Magnitude (M_F) from Average radii of isoseismals (R_i) at a specific value of Intensity (I_i)

Variable	Input	Units	Variable Name
R_i		km.	Average radii of isoseismals
I_i		unitless	for a given Intensity
Variable	Output	Units	Notes
M_F		unitless	Felt Magnitude

References

Ambraseys, N. N. and M. Barazangi (1989). "The 1759 Earthquake in the Bekaa Valley: Implications for earthquake hazard assessment in the Eastern Mediterranean Region." Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 94(B4): 4007-4013.

Abou Karaki (1987)

**G = 30 OCT. 1759, and 25 NOV 1759

A well documented crisis ...

- TAHA (pp 233-265), descriptions shock by shock...
In October, when no drop of rain had fallen so far..., a slight tremor was felt in Damascus followed by a second, then the earth shook violently,... The upper parts of almost all minarets of the mosques of Damascus fell,..., there was a lot of destruction and victims in Damascus and in the surrounding villages. The tremors followed one another... few trees remained standing. An epidemic broke out, the upper parts of the east and west minarets of the Umayyad Mosque fell. The tremors continued which caused the collapse of the eastern and northern walls of the eastern minaret the Umayyad mosque... around fifteen mosques are mentioned by name; the eastern wall of the Mosque "Al-MAZBOUR" cracked,..., last night, the earth shook in Safad, most of its inhabitants have perished ; a large part of Nablus was destroyed, and there were many casualties; a part of the tower of Acre fell into the Sea, Tiberias, Deir Hanna, the citadel of Al-Jandal, the country of Chouf and all the coastal cities, Sidon, Beirut, Tripoli, Latakia, Jaffa, Haifa, were affected, no villages in the Jabal-Druze were spared from the damage, the inhabitants of the coastal cities and the western zone took refuge in Damascus,..., then, on the evening of Monday, the 6th of the month Rabi II (Nov 25, 1759), the earthquake occurred. supreme, never known in the past,..., the eastern minaret we mentioned fell, on the side of the mosque, by destroying part of the 3 "Mihrabs", the majestic dome of the eagle fell as well as the entire northern part of the mosque, despite its well-built columns,...; there were a lot of victims this night in Damascus as well as in the villages of the surroundings in Tell there were victims; people have left Damascus and stayed 3 months in tents,..., the Umayyad mosque contains 3 minarets including the eastern called minaret of Isa (Jesus) son of Mary, peace be upon him..., the tremor of 30 OCT lasted 2 to 3 minutes,... that of 25 NOV lasted 4 minutes..., (TAHA)
numerous testimonies in TAHA, including that of an Archbishop... letter published in a newspaper etc..., also clarifications thanks to similar testimonies in the annals of Ksara (1956)..., 2,000 dead in Safad but the surrounding countryside is unscathed, several hundred dead in Damascus; in Baalbek, victims and damaged monuments... all the villages listed were also those more affected by the earthquake of March 16, 1956 (we will come back to this)...

Various phenomena that accompanied earthquakes...

a haze of dust emanated from the land which had suffered an abnormal drought this year

the spring of Maaser-Ech-Chouf has dried up

in the Jebal Miha above Mukhatara, the rocks have cracked

the fire would have "fallen" on the village of Beit Jinn (..., a village located 1 km from a volcano crater quaternary)..." (Ann. KSARA 1956)

..., a large number of less strong tremors followed one another until JANUARY 1760 with probable displacement of the epicenter north to the country of Antioch. (Ann. KSARA 1956).

Estimated Seismic Parameters from Ben-Menahem (1979)
Date Lat. Long. I₀ M_L Source

30 OCT. 1759 33°N 35.5° E XI 6.5 BMl (Ben-Menahem, 1979)

25 NOV. 1759 33.8° N 36.2° E X-XI 6.8 BMl (Ben-Menahem, 1979)

- 7 shocks are mentioned in PTAH between OCT. 1759 and APR. 1760, Damascus (X - XI), then Quneitra, Homs, Antioch and 3 times Damascus without mention of intensity. We emphasize that this set of earthquakes was preceded by an abnormal drought (we will come back to this). Jackson et al. (1984), citing a personal communication from Ambraseys, mentions this event which would be associated with 100 km of surface rupture; the date given by these authors (1756) is incorrect.

French

** G = 30 OCT. 1759, et 25 NOV 1759

Une crise sur laquelle nous sommes particulièrement bien documentés...

- TAHA (pp 233-265), descriptions choc par choc...
En octobre, alors qu'aucune goutte de pluie n'était tombée jusque là..., une secousse légère a été ressentie à Damas suivie d'une deuxième, puis la terre a tremblé violemment,... Les parties supérieures de la quasi-totalité des minarets des mosquées de Damas sont tombées,..., il y a eu beaucoup de destructions et de victimes à Damas et dans les villages alentour. Les secousses se sont succédées... peu d'arbres sont restés debout. Une épidémie s'est déclarée, les parties supérieures des minarets Est et Ouest de la mosquée Ommeyade sont tombés. Les secousses se sont poursuivies ce qui a causé l'effondrement des murs Est et Nord du minaret oriental de la mosquée Ommeyade... une quinzaine de Mosquées sont nommément citées ; le mur oriental de la Mosquée "Al-MAZBOUR" s'est fissurée,..., cette nuit, la terre a tremblé à Safad, la majeure partie de ses habitants ont péri ; une grande partie de Naplouse a été détruite, et il y a eu beaucoup de victimes ; une partie de la tour d'Acre est tombée en Mer, Tiberias, Deir Hanna, la citadelle de Al-Jandal, le pays du Chouf et toutes les villes côtières, Sidon, Beyrouth, Tripoli, Lattaquié, Jaffa, Haifa, ont été touchés, aucun village du Jabal-Ed-Druz n'a été épargné par les dégâts, les habitants des villes côtières et de la zone occidentale se sont réfugiés à Damas,..., puis, le soir du lundi 6 du mois Rabi II (25 Nov 1759), survint la secousse s uprême, jamais connue dans le passé,..., le minaret oriental que nous avons mentionné est tombé, du côté de la mosquée, en détruisant une partie des 3 "Mihrabs", la majestueuse coupole de l'aigle est tombée ainsi que toute la partie Nord de la mosquée, malgré ses colonnes bien construites,... ; il y a eu beaucoup de victimes cette nuit à Damas ainsi que dans les villages des environs à Tell il y a eu des victimes ; les gens ont quitté Damas et sont restés 3 mois dans les tentes,..., la mosquée ommeyade contient 3 minarets dont l'oriental appelé minaret de Isa (Jésus) fils de Marie, que la paix soit avec lui l..., la secousse du 30 OCT a duré de 2 à 3 minutes,... celle du 25 NOV a duré 4 minutes..., (TAHA)
témoignages très nombreux dans TAHA, y compris celui d'un Archevêque... lettre publiée dans un journal etc..., également des précisions grâce à des témoignages similaires dans les annales de Ksara (1956)..., 2000 morts à Safad mais la campagne environnante est indemne, plusieurs centaine de morts à Damas ; à Baalbek, victimes et monuments endommagés... tous les villages énumérés ont été également les plus atteints par le séisme du 16 Mars 1956 (nous y reviendrons)...

Phénomènes divers ayant accompagné les séismes...

une brume de poussière s'est dégagée de la terre qui avait subi cette année' une sècheresse anormale

la source de Maaser-Ech-Chouf s'est tarie

dans le Jebal Miha au dessus de Mukhatara, les roches se sont crevassées

le feu serait "tombé" sur le village de Beit Jinn (..., village situé à 1 km d'un cratère de volcan quaternaire)..." (Ann. KSARA 1956),..., un grand nombre de secousses moins fortes se sont succédées jusqu'en JANVIER 1760 avec déplacement probable de l'épicentre vers le Nord jusqu'au pays d'Antioche. (Ann. KSARA 1956).

Date Lat. Long. I₀ M_L Source

30 OCT. 1759 33° N 35°,5 E XI 6,5 BMl (Ben-Menahem, 1979)

25 NOV. 1759 33°,8 N 36°,2 E X-XI 6,8 BMl (Ben-Menahem, 1979)

- 7 chocs sont mentionnés dans PTAH entre OCT. 1759 et AVR. 1760, Damas (X - XI), puis Quneitra, Homs, Antioche et 3 fois Damas sans mention d'intensité. Nous soulignons que cet ensemble de séismes a été précédé par une sècheresse anormale (nous y reviendrons). Jackson et al. (1984), citant une communication personnelle d'Ambraseys, mentionne cet événement qui serait associé à 100 km de rupture de surface ; la date donnée par ces auteurs (1756) est erronée.

**Estimated Seismic Parameters from Ben-Menahem (1979)**
Date	Lat.	Long.	I₀	M_L	Source
30 OCT. 1759	33°N	35.5° E	XI	6.5	BMl (Ben-Menahem, 1979)
25 NOV. 1759	33.8° N	36.2° E	X-XI	6.8	BMl (Ben-Menahem, 1979)

Date	Lat.	Long.	I₀	M_L	Source
30 OCT. 1759	33° N	35°,5 E	XI	6,5	BMl (Ben-Menahem, 1979)
25 NOV. 1759	33°,8 N	36°,2 E	X-XI	6,8	BMl (Ben-Menahem, 1979)

References

Abou-Karaki, N. (1987). Synthèse et carte sismotectonique des pays de la bordure Orientale de la Méditerranée: sismicité du système de foilles du Jourdain – Mer Morte, University of Strasbourg, France. Ph.D. Diss.

Taher (1996)

from Taher (1996)

1173/ 1759: earthquakes, several seismic tremors on the night of Tuesday 8 Rabi I shortly before dawn with 2 or 3 tremors per week, until the night of Monday 6 Rabi.' II, the tremors continue to be less numerous until the end of this year in Syria (Jerusalem, Ghaza , Sayda, Safad , Homs, Hamâ , Caesarea, Hisn al-Akrâd , Antioch, Damascus, Aleppo, Qal'at al-Berîdj , Hassiyya , and Nablus ); destruction of buildings, damage to the Umayyad mosque: the northern pillar is destroyed, the large dome too, the Bâb al-Barîd market is ruined; most of the houses in Damascus are demolished, as are the mosques; numerous victims. Then in Damascus, before the end of the year, an epidemic occurs; most mosques were rebuilt thanks to the resources of the Waqfs, and the great mosques of Damascus, Latakia ( Lâdhiqiyya ), Sulaymâniyya , were rebuilt with funds from the Ottoman state¹⁸⁴ .

1174/1760 : A1-Bidîrî¹⁸⁵ writes: “The third night of Ramadan, at the time of the twilight prayer, an earthquake occurs in Damascus, the people cut short the prayer, flee in an abominable stampede, they lose the head and also their clothes. The next night passed in the same way .

Footnotes

184 More details, Texts, ed. Taher, BEO, Damascus, 1975; Volney, Journey to Egypt and Syria, p. 166.

185 A1-Haweidith, p. 229: Texts, ed. Taher, ibid., p. 101.

Taher (1979)

1173 A.H./1759 AD

Al Bidiri (eyewitness) writes: At the beginning of Rabia' II (Tishrin II), not a drop of water had fallen from the sky. The night of Tuesday 8 Rabia' II, in the last third of the night, the muezzins launched the call to prayer from the minarets and then came a slight earthquake, followed by a second tremor, then a third. Then, in Damascus, the earthquake was enormous, and the Damascenes believed the last hour had come. There was very significant destruction of houses and mosques. Most minarets lost their tops throughout Syria. We cannot count the damaged houses and other places in all the country. Even the dome of An-Naçr, which stood atop Mount Qassiun was shaken and half destroyed. In the villages of Syria, there was a lot of rubble, burying countless victims.

The second night^1a, the earth shook at the same moment as the day before and in the morning the earthquake continued, and during the day too, it continued again, several times, but lighter than the first two shocks. Panic and dismay were their height. People evacuated their homes and they slept in the alleys, the gardens, the cemeteries and tombs, the plantations, and the courtyard of the Umayyad mosque.

During this earthquake, the Qunaytira hotel fell on its occupants, and there were few survivors among the animals and travelers. The same disaster occurred at the Khan of Sa'asa'. News came to Damascus that the towns and villages of Syria had collapsed on their inhabitants without sparing any survivors.

On Tuesday night, at the tenth hour of the night, On the 5th of Rabia' II, the sky parted, and we heard cries, rolling noises, thunderclaps, and horror. Illuminated people saw the ceilings rise, the stars appear, and the ceilings return to their place.

News came that mountains had collided, imprisoning villages which disappeared without any trace of them being found.

On the night of Friday 18 Rabia' I, at the time of the twilight prayer, a shooting star crossed the sky from west to east, illuminating the mountains and houses. Then it fell and we heard a huge sound, louder than a cannon shot, and we saw lightning. During the first shocks, an enormous rock fell into the Qanawat river, which it blocked and the city waited for water for 11 days. It took 11 days to cut this rock and let the river water pass through. People endured two misfortunes: the earthquake and the water cut.

On the night of Monday 6 Rabia' II, at the fifth hour, a prodigious earthquake occurred, with a power of several degrees. There were terrible tremors. The rest of the minarets collapsed. The great lady of the Umayyad Mosque collapsed, as well as the entire North Pillar, the Madrasa Al Kallasata was also destroyed, as was the Al-Barid gate and the towers of the citadel, and most houses of Damascus. Those which had not fallen had nevertheless been badly damaged. Many victims were killed in the villages, people evacuated their houses to escape and take refuge in orchards, plantations, and cemeteries. They pitched tents in the fields and took refuge there with their families. Despite this, the shaking did not stop, during neither the day nor the night. Then the governor of Syria Abd-Allah Bacha-Achataji ordered that everyone shout together for 3 days in the great mosque for a solemn prayer, the Friday, because we knew that God was not deaf to the invocations that rose from the mosque (Al Muçlaa).

People went to the mosque. Then the governor joined them, with the notables, the muphti and the judge. The scholars followed, women and children. They spent 3 days in prayers, supplications, implorations, like the day of Arafat, as one can imagine the Last Day.

God merciful more than the Clements forgave, the tremors diminished, became lighter. The people stayed in the orchards and meadows, not very reassured, until the snow and rain. So they returned, still not very reassured.

On 8 Djumada II, news came from Damascus that Abd-Allah Bacha-Achataji had fallen disgrace, and on 22 Djumada II, the governor was transferred to Diyar Baqr.

On the night of Monday 25 Djumada II, before dawn, an earthquake occurred in Syria, lighter than the previous one.

Rumors circulated, announcing more violent earthquakes, people gave in to panic, went out again to the cemeteries and gardens, imploring her, mercy of God.

On the first Monday of Rajeb, the new governor Muhammad Pasha-ach-châlik ibn Bulaîd-Pasha made his entry.

In the middle of the month of Rajeb, intense winds blew for 4 days and 4 nights, destroying many places, leaving very few trees standing. The tremors were incessant, night and day.

Prices soared, even those of vegetables. The historians testify:

The poor man had no more resources, the rubble from the earthquakes constantly accumulated. The townspeople sought refuse in the countryside:

During the day of Saturday 22 Rajeb, an architect specializing (in domes) came from Constantinople. His name was Sabaniah Zada. He examines the Umayyad mosque, to reconstruct the dome and its northern pillar, the minarets damaged by the earthquake. With him was a site manager, workers, men to undertake the repairs to the mosque.

We noticed that a plague epidemic had begun, weak at first in Djumada II, increasingly strong in Rajeb and Chaeban. The price rise was also growing.

The month of Ramadan began on Thursday, so the festival (Eid) took place on Friday. It was a celebration for the dead more than for the living. Two days before 'Eid al-Fitr, and two days after the festival, of each Damascus Gate left 1000 funeral processions of victims of the plague. This has never been seen since the time of the plague of 'Amwas^1b.

Al Ghazzî writes^2a: I saw in the text of Chihab ad-Dîn Ahmad al-'Aglouni Ad-Dimachqi Adj-Djarahi -ch-Chafîf, died on Monday 18 Dhul Qi'ada 1188, that the night of Tuesday 6 Rabiaâ I, (in the middle of Tishrin I), an earthquake had occurred at the tenth hour of the night, the ground had suffered a violent shaking, then subsided, then the agonizing trembling resumed; the wind had blown in a storm, with many claps of thunder, the people were stunned, the ceilings had cracked, the walls had split and there had been in Syria, a quantity countless houses destroyed. The tops of the minarets of Damascus had collapsed, the minaret East of the Great Umayyad Mosque had been damaged, as well as part of the Al Arous minaret; Overall, this mosque had not been significantly damaged.

On the other hand, all the minarets of Damascus had been affected, with rare exceptions.

Other shocks occurred the next day (7 Rabia' I) In the morning, the earth shook very hard and the minaret of the venerable mosque of the Umayyads was damaged, as well as the North and East walls; we heard a loud noise. All the minarets were greatly weakened, even that of the Sulaymaya al-Mahyawiya mosque, (Mosque built by Sultan Selim II, near the tomb of Muahy ad-Din b-Araby) in the Salahyya district. Sections of construction were rushed to the ground, finally, the minaret collapsed. Same disaster at the mosque Muzafary, at the minaret of the Sibay mosque, at the Mu'alaq mosque, Hassan Mosque, Emir Mandjaq Mosque, Mahallat Masjid al-Aqcab, to the minarets of the mosques of al-M1dân square, the other minarets of the mosques of Damascus were not spared, with rare exceptions close.

The great dome of Naçr, in the great mosque, split and was weakened, the east wall of this mosque was cracked, and most of the houses in Damascus had their ceilings demolished. The battlements of the great mosque, which were 5 cubits long and dominated by a from a man's height the ceiling of the mosque over its entire perimeter were shot down. They had been built to cut off the view of the neighboring houses to those who climbed onto the roof of the mosque. The battlements collapsed on nearby buildings, including the houses of the Ghazzites. The Khaloutya room, At-tabakhya, in the Simisiatids convent (north-east of the Cmayyad mosque) was damaged, and the vault of the Nawan Hall was dislocated. This is for the northern parts of the mosque.

The other sides of the mosque suffered the same damage. The stones were broken, the columns of the mosque split, on the side of the door which opens onto the venerable mausoleum of the Prophet, in front of the capital which supports the dome.

At the end of the month of Rabia' I, people implored God to put an end to this ordeal, the likes of which they had never seen. They read the whole tradition of Imam Bukhari and the marvelous Quran many times. They implored God with divine formulas and the formulas of the prophet. During this night, at Chihab's house Ahmad -b- Al Mininl, two floors collapsed on top of each other and 6 of his children died under the rubble. The father did their funeral toilet and buried them together Marj-ad-Dahdah. Three other victims died under the rubble of the minaret of Mahalat al-Midan. A man was killed by the crescent of the minaret of the mosque of Hassan when he had come out of an oven which he feared the collapse. That night the earth shook in Çafad (Safed), most of the inhabitants died; there were 1,300 Jewish victims. A large part of Nablus was destroyed, and there was a crowd of victims. In Acre, the earth shook in the same way and part of the towers the enclosure fell into the sea. Among the other towns affected: Tiberias, Dir Hanâ, Qala' at al-Jandal^1c, the country of Chouf, the rest of Palestinian coast: Saida, Beirut, Tripoli, Latakia, Djafa, Haifa, all the rest of the coast of northern Syria, not a single one remained village of Jebel Druze which was not affected by the disaster, the Khâns were destroyed, and collapsed on the travelers.

In Damascus, the number of victims (men and women) is incalculable. The catastrophe which occurred at the Damascus mosque was without previous precedent. And this disaster had an amplitude less than one degree. The people cried out to God, fearing that the Last Day had come, asking him what would become of them after the resurrection. The people came running from the West and the coast, the Damascenes told them, Praise be to God, he spared us, among your neighbors there are only a few survivors.

The Umayyad Mosque was restored by the governor of Damascus Ach—Chitadji and the administrator[s] of the Waqfs of the mosque, the sheikh, the mawla Ali ibn-Baha-d-Dîn b-Mohammed Muràd, al Mùràdi, the Hussimid An-Naqchabandi, mufti Sàda the Hanafi of Damascus, who displayed intense zeal to repair the minarets. The rickety sections of wall of the eastern minaret were torn down. The workers were afraid to put hands on it as the enormous construction had become fragile. The team of Christian masons asked a crazy price to accomplish demolition work as they required security fences. The governor sent to cut enormous pieces of wood which he had transported towards the mosque. Much wood was felled in the famous groves from the valley east of Damascus and other places. We transported the pieces until they filled the mosque. All the saws of the city were requisitioned to cut large beams a third or so thick of a quarter of a cubit. The masons erected the scaffolding around the minaret in question. The Christian Masons protested before the necessary work and a member of the guild (Al-Habtalf) was delegated as the sawyer [one who saws] to order the demolition and he took up the challenge: he climbed the minaret without scaffolding, up to the crescent, without removing his Qauq^1d (headdress) nor his Chukchtra (pants)^2b. He took a hammer and a small iron chisel and he freed the stones which he threw down.

Spectators watched him from the courtyard of the mosque. He thus demolished part of the minaret, which at that time measured 35 cubits higher than today in height and 5 cubits more in width. The crescent rested on a large stone. Seeing these exploits, the Christian masons looked grim. The governor that we mentioned above was there when Habtali accomplished his feat and he rewarded him with a magnificent present, and promised him another when the construction was completed. The masons set to work. They prepared the mortar and dug the foundations to rebuild the building.

The month of Rabia' II began on Wednesday and Monday the 16th after the evening prayer, in the venerable mosque, a shock took place, which lasted 3/4 of an hour and was very violent. We had never recorded anything like it before.

The mountains began to move, the earth to jump, and the waters to sink. The shock calmed down and a second followed it, softer, of an amplitude by 2 degrees. People implored God who sounded the future, the spirits lost their way, the strongest became frightened, the dust and darkness came at that moment; that moment, the darkness spread, the people were surprised by this disaster, overwhelming, Through this overwhelming terror, tongues tied, words cut off, their eyes sunk, their lips dried up. The earth shook and undulated like broth on the fire. The minaret of Damascus fell, broken like a straw. The East Minaret mentioned fell, and it was no longer necessary to demolish it. The dome of An-Naçr fell despite the remarkable quality of its construction. The North Pillar fell, with all its columns supporting also of good quality as well as their bows.

Between two columns were placed marble arches, made of eight-sided stones; the eastern minaret fell on the mosque, it demolished three mihrab^1e which were near him. Walls and ceilings cracked and almost collapsed. It is God who commands, God the Lord Almighty. All the domes of Damascus collapsed and the Yalbugha mosque collapsed with its immense dome and its minaret, and yet, it was of remarkable construction quality. The Khan that Asa 'ad-masha, governor of Damascus, had built, lost three domes. The houses of Damascus were almost entirely demolished. The victims were countless that night. Neighboring villages of Damascus were damaged and an inestimable quantity of animals and people died there. The devastation extended to the villages of the hills and there were more than 500 victims. There were few survivors. The mountain villages were devastated, such as Al-Hama and Zabadani, in the Barada valley, there was an uncountable number victims buried under the rubble.

The walls of Damascus collapsed into the river 'Aqrabâ and its course was crossed out. The western wall of the citadel of Damascus collapsed totally; by blocking the course of the Bânyâs. The roads were blocked. Dust, wood, stones. The sky shook, the earth moved, fortunes and crowds were destroyed. No one can know the number; everything has disappeared, the furniture, the domestic belongings, the porcelain pottery, a number of other objects. It is an action that God thus accomplished to make it known that all the things of this world would disappear one day. People became landless, always on the run. The Damascenes evacuated the city, taking their belongings, by taking their children. They pitched tents and stayed 3 months out of town.

On the occasion of this earthquake, the scholar Mustafa b-Ahmad b-Mohammed, originally from Damiàt, resident in Damascus, where he died, known under the name of Al-Luqimi, the chafifte, composed this poem:

I will forget all the good times of the broken,
I will never forget the night of the earthquake,
yes reminds us of the cradle,
and shows us the dance of the mountains,
makes us see the palaces cradled like a child.

When the governor of Damascus, ach-Chitadjî, made the report of the events at the Sublime Porte (in Constantinople) where he had informed the Sultan on the state of the Umayyad mosque, the citadel of Damascus, and other destroyed places, he asked him where were the repairers.

At that time, Sultan Mustafa, the son of Sultan Ahmed, reigned ; he issued a decree ordering reconstruction and sent to Damascus as secretary Mustafa Mohammed nicknamed Isbatahdji^1f, who, upon his arrival in Damascus, reported the decree and orders of the Sultan (this was happening in the year 1174).

The Governor of Damascus and the Judge of Judges Sati Ali b-Mustafa b-Khatan Effendi, the Hanafist, went down to the mosque to take an inventory of damages. The person in charge of the Waqf was called.

An anonymous historian writes:

Let us now consider^2c the earthquake in terms of the damage it caused to schools, mosques, almshouses, caravanserais, mausoleums, markets, and homes. We will leave the numbers to the discretion of God who knows everything. The earthquake occurred on the night of 7 Rabia'a I, after half past ten in the evening. We were in a village near Dames, in the district of La Chuta: Barza^1g. There is in this village the mausoleum of Abraham al-Khalil, upon this prophet remaining prayer and peace. It was there that he saw the moon appear and he thanked God for having allowed him to find one another according to ibn 'Asâkr^2d.

In this mosque rests one of the companions of the prophet, which makes the village bear his name.

Here is a poem about the earthquake:

He made him who was standing sit down, and
wake the sleeper,
the earth was shaken with its inhabitants,
the one who lived righteously and the one who was in the wrong.

The people were overwhelmed, women, children, animals. We heard various voices, haunting like the sound of waterfalls, which lasted until morning. We gathered for prayer in a garden outside the village. It was the garden of the heirs of the late 'Agha al-Warana. We stayed there three days and three nights, the earthquake continued night and day. People brought us news of Damascus and Salahya. Some people told us that the top of the minaret East of the Umayyad Mosque had fallen. It was called the minaret of Our Lord Jesus, according to Tradition which says that Jesus will descend at the end of time on the white minaret east of Damascus, at the time of Lord Muhammad al-Mahdy. It will be brought by a cloud, with an angel on his right and an angel on his left, his face will be covered with sweat. It is indeed this minaret, no one has confused it with the one yes is also located east of Damascus, on the square of the Orient Gate.

Women. The women congratulated each other on having survived. But my insides were naked before these blows of fate. We cleared the rubble to extract the corpses. The death market was saturated. People buried their dead without funeral. The son carried his father, the brother his brother, neighbor his neighbor. There were up to 8 bodies buried in the same grave. The earthquake lasted without anyone seeing safety arrive. The people stayed in the orchards and the mountains, under tents. Sleep no longer came when they closed their eyelids. They no longer knew sleep. We cannot count the victims buried under the rubble, only God knows their number. I wanted to take an inventory of the destroyed mosques, public baths (hammams), and schools, because I could not estimate the number of victims. I went down in Damascus to al-Barîd gate, to see the devastation suffered by the solitary mosque built by WalId as-Salih, the Umayyad, who was fair and righteous, and who had spent an incalculable amount of money. The mosque had 7 doors; one is there. Bab-al-Barid^1h: to its right and to its left, you find two small doors, they overlook the Bab al-Barid market. This is the district where the big traders are: musk traders, amber, 'Ud, perfumers and sellers of rose water and other flowers. Another large door is called Bah-Djirun, to the east of the mosque, at its right and to its left, two small doors flank it, and it opens onto the Adh—Dhahabiya market.

This is the district of scarves embroidered with gold and silver, there is a coffee that has no equal. There is a jet of water there 5 cubits high stambouliennes [Istanbul like ?], the water flows into a large basin.

Opposite the coffee market is a thermal bath called Adh-Dhahabiya - you climb ten steps to access it, it is among the most beautiful hammams [thermal bath]. There is also the mosque of the Prophet John (Yahya).

Another large northern gate is close to Chirabâchyya. Another large gate, to the north, is called Bab-as-Sâ'at, it overlooks the Al-Kalasa school.

Two smaller gates were built after the repairs. A large door is to the south. It is called 'Ambarânyya. All these doors are covered with yellow copper, chiseled, on each the name of its builder and that of its decorator is written.

The mosque is decorated with three minarets. One is called the eastern minaret is the minaret of Jesus, son of Mary; In these minarets 75 muezzines, doua'ajys and chiefs are employed. There are 7 schools there. The most grandiose is located below the dome An-Nâçir. There are 25 study locations. In everyone there is a master since morning prayer until noon, serving students in all science.

Outside the sanctuary there are two domes, one of which rests on 8 columns, the other on 6. One of the two has a basin from which water gushes out.

The mosque has 4 covered aisles: one to the east, near the minaret of the Lord Jesus; there is a master of the Chochtouri sect there, and there the rosary is said after the great Friday prayer.

The second covered aisle is outside the sanctuary, there is a master who leads the litany on Friday nights and Monday.

The third aisle is to the West. There is another Chochtourite master. There the rosary is said every Friday after the afternoon prayer.

The fourth aisle is to the west too, it has two windows overlooking the mosque's thermal baths. There is a pool for ablutions.

There are wonderful rooms where the Quran is recited. There are more than 100 copies. There is the copy of 'Uthman who collected the suras, wrote with his hand, the liter [?] still bears traces of his blood.

There were inscriptions that the most skillful; theoreticians cannot reinvent, before Tamerlan [burned] them.

There were the marvels in this mosque that even a century-old man would have been surprised to find there.

There were amulets there which prohibited entry to those who were harmed. soiled from having made love. There are also talismans there to ward off the birds, the sparrows. There are talismans in the walls that keep sweepings away.

I arrived at Bab al-Barid, and realized the effects of the earthquake. I saw that the roof was broken down, the columns and arches which supported on the length and breadth lay on the ground. What humiliation! The mind refuses to accept! I cried over the misery of this building. I say this improvised poem:

On the al—Barid gate, I wanted to cry
His solitary door to the mosque was closed
I implore God to come to his aid,
On the mail horses.

(he asks the Sublime Porte to repair the damage).

Then I surrendered, full of sadness and horror, and I walked like one who goes to the top of a mountain, to go around from the doors of the honorable mosque, in order to realize the effects of the shock.

I saw the northern aisles, the small doors, the Dome, the dome of the Shafiite mufti, the ceiling had fallen, the arches and columns were lying on the ground. The Al-Aàraus minaret, the minaret of Our Lord Jesus, the western minaret lay on the ground.

The An-Naçr dome was also on the ground; most of the mosque: its ceilings, its walls, its arches.

What I saw filled me with amazement. I regretted coming; my spirit escaped, and I was prey to torment. I improvised:

The Umayyad mosque cries with sadness,
She was like the head of the other mosques,
The destruction has weakened its minarets,
She lost the 'Aârous,
Its dome of Naçr fell to the ground,
She humbly greets the class location.

I then arrived at the Djirun gate, to the north, there my my approach was weighed down by sadness, my eyes watered. I repeated: Everything happened by the will of God. I found the neighborhood deserted, the cafes emptied of their customers. Where were the companions? Absent or returned to dust? No seats around the pool. The thermal baths were also not very lively only graves.

"I will ask for the help of the Sultan and the intervention of Al Müràdi (the head of the Waqf)"

I left, my heart swollen with sadness, and I saw that the Gate was destroyed on its 4 sides. I then visited 'Umara, near there, under the citadel, the Khan of Pasha, there Al Ghawani lane, Al Bahça, Al hasûdyya, Darwichyya, Châghur, what had not yet fallen would soon do so.

Here is the list of mosques and minarets demolished:

The Tawba mosque, M'ulaq, Châmyya, A1 Bugha, Sanjaqdâr, the Sibahyya mosques, Chamyya, part of the Sulaymanyya, the mosque of Safar DJalâny^1j, the mosque located in Al Kharâb, that of Annata'aayin that of Châghur, the mosque of Calahyya, the mosque of Selim, that of Hanbal, the Al Jadid mosque, the Atabakyya mosque, that of 'Azizat ad-Din Al Mardanyya, the Al Murchadyya mosque, the Al Afram mosque, the Al Hajib mosque, in Salahyya, that which was among the most beautiful mosques.

The Al Hajib Mosque in Salahyya, one of the best mosques, which saw its walls completely ravaged, as well as its parquet floor in white and pink marble, up to the wooden window frames fragrant, the dome of the minaret, which rested on 6 marble columns, which had remained intact despite the ravages of time; all is fallen, mosque, minaret, only the 6 columns remained; We ask God Most High that good people rebuild it, it is he who has the power to do what he wants in all things.

Damage occurred in villages:

the Barzat mosque
Tal Mosque
Minin Mosque
the mosque of Alqabûn
the mosque of Alqabûn
the mosques of Arbin and Aichâ'ary
the mosque of An Nachâbyya
Al Farida Mosque
the mosque of Al 'Ibada

And some of these honorable places fell to the ground, and others were not far from it. All of the minarets were destroyed, what I say in my verses:

The minarets of the mosques have fallen in prostration,
their head has joined their foot,
By seeing people prostrate themselves,
The stones followed suit.

The hammams were also affected:

The Qaramâni thermal baths, located below the citadel (on Mahalat Tahat al Qala')
The An-Naçr thermal baths on the mentioned mahalat
Al Bawabjyyà thermal baths^1k
The thermal baths of As Silsila al Kabir and Al Silsila As-Saghir
The Manjak thermal baths
The Sultan Baths
The thermal baths ach Chamyya
Al Aaqbat al Kubra thermal baths
The thermal baths of Aâilâni
The thermal baths of An-Naib
The Misq thermal baths in Tali' Al Quba
In Salahyya, the Muqaddim and al Hajib thermal baths
In the villages: the thermal baths of Duma, Al Hama, Qatanà, 'AarbIn, of At Tal, of Minin, of Halbun, everything was destroyed, even the bases that had been spared by the previous earthquake.

The brick domes bound with mortar were also damaged. Among them are:

The dome of the Damascus mosque (An Nàcr) which rested on 4 pillars, each of about a hundred cubits, in white and red marble, and was adorned with indescribable decorations.

The top of the dome was decorated with 22 crystal moons, ten cubits high. On another level, below, we admired a frieze of inscriptions that no one would be able to imitate. The dome housed a place of study, as I say in this verse:

The Dome of Naçr fell to the ground
to respectfully salute the study.

Also destroyed:

The dome of King Zahir, that of King Al 'Aàdil^1k, that of the famous Nur ad-din^2e
the dome of Al 'Açrûnyya^3a
that of As-Sâdât
also 5 domes of the new khan, built for the late Haj A's âd—Pasha
the domes schools
the thermal baths café
the golden dome in the orchard of Dahdah
the dome of Nacryya
that of Dar at-Tarh (this was the tax administration) which was previously Mahalat Man al-Qaçab
the dome of the Al Hachr mosque
that of the mosque of Fatha-effendi
that of Marj ad-Dahdàh
that of the top of the citadel of Damascus, which was called Diwân de Zahir (the offices of Zahir)
that of Sheikh Al Nahlawy
12 domes of Darwichyya
that of the Al Yaghuchyya mosque below the citadel

Here is the damage that occurred in Salahyya:

The dome of the great master Muhyie ad-Din al 'Araby; two domes in Tikyya, two domes of Sheikh Abi-l-Hassan Al 'Umary, two domes of the school Aj-Jakrkasyya, two domes of Al Ma'azamyya, the dome of Sheikh Raslân, with its arch, the dome an Naçr, the dome Al Mardânyya, other numerous domes that I do not know.

The Sultan's citadels were not spared:

the citadel of Damascus lost its southern curtain wall, and the neighboring walls of the ditch, a tower, on the portion which goes from the Khana towers to Al-Manakhilyya, and many houses were destroyed by its fall. The citadel of Bâ'albak, one of the most marvelous citadels of the world, the one that Sulayman b—Dawid had offered as a dowry to Balqls when he married her. There was the changing of the guard tower there, 3 Ahjâr (stones) wide. One of the stones that made it up had a size of 5 cubits by 5 cubits. There was a room of 30 cubits long and 20 cubits wide. Its walls were made of stone carved, the ceiling rested on a stone rat decorated with inscriptions, there were no columns.

The citadel also housed the palace of Balqis, which had 16 columns twenty cubits long, plated with yellow copper, which fell until the last one.

There was also the citadel of Tiberias, that of Chaqif, the khan of Nabatyya which looked like a citadel; some citadels of Saida were shot down.

The caravanserais also suffered damage:

the Khan of Pasha
in Damascus
the Khan of A'Sa'ad-Pacha
the Khan which is located below the citadel
Khan Al-Dalakyya
the Khan of Othman
Khan al Qacir
Khan As-Sabil
Khan Maysalun
Khan Hâçbaya
Khan Al Qabun
Khan Saâsaâ,
Khân Ad-Dimâs
the Khan al Khuçaryya
the Khan of the Franks in Beyrout

The mills were also affected:

The Turba mill
Chinan’s
that of Harasta
that of Tell
Minin’s mill

The presses were not spared either:

The An—Nachabyya press
the Zamalka press

Neither do covered fountains; in villages, such as Muarra, in Tal, there were 425 victims under the rubble and there were many others that were not removed.

In the village of Machout, the well was destroyed. That of Halbûn was in part. The well of the village Dartj was destroyed, that of Saydnaya too, and those of Harastâ, Aârbîn, Dawma, 'Adhra, Maza, Hamuryya, Bayt Sawa', Jisrin, Al Aftaris, Kafr Batna, Al Manima, Zabdin, Bayt Nayam in full, Al-Acha'ari, Salahyya Al Marj, Al-Jarba, Al Farida, Al Bahrya, Maydâ'à, Al Maymunya, As Sawamia', Tal al Kurdi, Rayhan, Kafr Madir^1l, Chaqunyya, Damar, Alhamat in its entirety, Dirraya, Al Jadida, Ayn Tûz, Qawqab, Qatana, Sarghaya, Ba'albak and its region, Al Hûlat and its surroundings, Al Biqa'a and its region; Most of these villages were completely or almost destroyed. Only God can estimate the number of victims. In the houses there were 10 victims, a little more or a little less. Misfortune and mourning struck everyone, men, women and children. There were a few survivors who pitched tents in the meadows, others built huts in wood for shelter, others had neither tent nor cabin, and they would have preferred to die.

The peasants dug niches in the ground, above which they placed bamboo and branches. They observed the fast for three days and called on God. The earthquake continued night and day; The victims were still fleeing.

As for me, I saw Salhya and the location of my house, the rising of my sun, the abode of my affairs, the goal of my hope; I entered and saw that the corners of my house were destroyed, everyone was upset, its trees slept on the ground, the vines lay on the ground; I lost my spirits, I was dizzy.

I went out to my garden and saw that it was completely empty, ravaged with rubble, what was yesterday a cause of pleasure had become a cause of sadness.

I looked at the ruined palace, the houses without their owners, and the mosques with closed doors.

Here is some very surprising news spread by the itinerants:

When the governor of Damascus Haj Abdallah Ach Chitajy saw the earthquake lasted like this, he gave orders to keep a close watch on people in bad conditions. life; There was a house in Salahyya inhabited by a woman, and frequented by the Kurds, night and day, shamelessly. The neighbors didn't say anything for fear of the soldiers who were the Kurds. When the governor of Damascus made his decision, the neighbors asked that this woman be evicted.

The governor summoned her to him and ordered her to leave her house, which she did. In her place came an honest man moved with his family. The first night he spent there, the earthquake occurred, and honest people were buried and the debauched woman was saved. A man from Dimas did not want to sleep under a roof and preferred to sleep the desert. He was so afraid that he no longer trusted anyone. In the morning, the travelers mounted their mounts to continue their journey, abandoning their camp where embers were still burning.

Our man was a smoker. He approached a wall to light his pipe. The wall collapsed on him.

Thieves attacked a man in the village of Zabadan, and they wanted to spend the night at his house. The walls fell on them. 5 perished, killed in the rubble. The sixth had an arm caught in the scree, but his life was saved. In the morning, he was surprised.

A gardener went to sell his beef at the market because he had no more money. The thieves awaited his return to steal the proceeds of the sale. They waited until nightfall, they entered his home and kidnapped his child, whom they made cry outside. The father went out, believing in the wolf. The thieves broke into his house... to die under the rubble.

The earthquake surprised people invited to friends' houses or parents. Those who remained at home were spared.

Here is another very strange prodigy, which we cannot understand only on condition of having faith. The village Ach-Chalf, in the district of Al Latiqa was built at the bottom of a valley where a river flowed. After the earthquake, the valley became a plain and the village disappeared. Someone passed by and a shepherd told him that the village had disappeared with all its inhabitants, without there being any survivors.

The village of Bayt 'Jin was between two mountains which joined under the effect of the earthquake; nothing remained of the village.

In the village of Al Hama, a wanderer came to show his conjuring tricks. Everyone came out to see him and when the earthquake occurred, everyone was spared.

In Hasaya, the water in the river stopped flowing and people remained deprived of water for several days, until it returned by the will of God.

There was a plain nearby, at the base of a mountain. The relief was reversed: the mountain took the place of the plain and the plain that of the mountain. A man from this village swears he saw the ceiling of the hall of his house crack open and let you see the stars, to then take its place again. Another man swears by Wonderful God to have seen in the hall of his house in Damascus a carved stone albino horse go down twice and go back up again. It happened at the occasion of this earthquake of wonders that words cannot describe, that a living being is quite incapable of reporting. Let us implore God, that faith does not get lost, may he give us patience, may he spare us from fantasies of nightmares, that it strengthens the unity of the group of those faithful to the last prophet, the imam of the founding prophets of religion, may he grant us all rest in his mercy, sheltered from misfortune. Amen.

Then, after the period mentioned above, on the night of Sunday 24 Jumada II, at 10 a.m. evening, the earth shook twice, then the earthquake continued to visit the world, taking or leaving the living, according to the luck of each, until the morning of Friday 28 Rajah, followed by rain, snow and winds of prodigious violence. People remained locked in their homes for 4 days, without going out, because the storm was raging. Some lost their minds and said "what a waste, all that lost!" The earth's temples were white with snow, people stayed in their homes without moving for fear of the earthquake, they were in danger inside, but outside the snow was spreading everywhere cape, on the plains and the mountains, the cold added to the wind which pierced the great body of the snow with an arrow, which bled until it fell lifeless. The seven rivers that flowed from the same heart began to foam and bubble. They overflowed tyrannical and destructive, nothing opposed them, so they spread their waters from the Mahla which is found under the citadel, up to the Khân du pasha, at 'Al Khadiryya, sparing no house, no inhabitant, flooding the markets with devastating waves, opening every door, until morning.

Here the author of this article stops,
Glory to God the Most High
that prayer hovers over the prophet,
and his generous followers.

Mohammed Khâlil b—Al Murâdi^1m, Hanafi muphti in Damascus, was born in Damascus in the year of the great earthquake of 1173 AH, he died in 1206 AH, barely 30 years old.

He establishes a relationship between the earthquake and injustice, murder and quarrels, famine and inflation. There was in fact a quarrel between the Yankarajyya faction and that of the Yurlyya. In the biography of Fathy Ad-Daftary, we find mention of these militias Hassan Pasha gave the order to assassinate this chronicler "which was made on Sunday at one o'clock in the afternoon, on the 15th of Jumada II, from the year 1159, and at the time of his death occurred an earthquake followed by a other after the burial".

In the biography, Husin Pasha Miky, governor of Damascus, prince of the pilgrimage of 1171, Al Muràdi writes:

He did not hold very firmly in his faction, which made the Yurlyya gain importance, and the quarrel developed, although it had previously remained unnoticed. Inflation and famine appeared in Damascus, the inhabitants complained troubles arose, the situation deteriorated; Yurlyya sects, Qaby Qu1 and others among the factions of Kurdish soldiers, events happened like this, from quarrel to civil war, even during the month of Ramadan, stubborn tyrants continued murder and violence, after which an epidemic of plague occurred, tremors of earth, these are the events of this time, plague, tremors of land, quarrels, wars, go beyond the possibilities of description.

It seems that the earthquake occurred in Châm between 1171 and 1173, under the mandate of 'Abd Allah Pasha-Chitaji, and about whom Al Muradi reports:

It occurred in Damascus¹ⁿ in 1173, on Tuesday night 8 Rabiaâ I, shortly before dawn; it spread towards Jerusalem, Gaza, Sayda, Safad, all the countries on the Syrian coast, Hums, Ramat, Caesarea, Hiçn al A'krad, Antioch, Aleppo, with 2 or 3 tremors per week, until the night of Monday 6 Rabia'a II at the time mentioned, at the end of the twilight prayer, and it reached in Damascus 3 degrees, by ravaging Damascus, Antioch, Sayda, Qàl'at al Burayj, Hisyya, the pillar North of the Umayyad mosque was destroyed, the great lady too. the northern minaret, the Bâb al Barid market was ruined, most of the houses in Damascus were demolished, the mosques too; the shaking continued until the end of the year mentioned. Then in Damascus, before the end of the year, an epidemic occurred; most mosques were rebuilt thanks to funds donated by wills of the dead and the great mosque of Damascus, the citadel, Latakia Sulaymanyya. were rebuilt with funds from the Ottoman state.

In the biography of Mustafa Al-'Alwâny, we are told that he composed a poem about earthquakes, dedicated to. Al Murâdt, mufti of Syria, father of our chronicler. This piece mentions the destruction of the Damascus mosque, undermined by the earthquakes and the last verse allows us to date the disaster:

The Umayyad Mosque was destroyed by the earthquakes, and Mustafa, the famous king, rebuilt it

AMAWY JILAQ AN HAWYYA 'ZALAZIL
75 133 51 21 21 77
PABIMUCTAFA AL MALIK AL MAJID YUSHADU
3 1 1 1 2 1 7 7 3 1 5
Year 1174.

A scholar from Aleppo 'Umar Al Labaqy also talks about the earthquake that hit Aleppo:

My heart is at peace thanks to the God of Truth, he stripped away the fear that the tremor inspired in him earthen.

In the dictionaries of Al Muràdi's biographies, there is no mention of the victims of the earthquake, as usual, apart from the indication contained in the note on Asa 'ad Al Mujallid:

When the earthquake occurred in Damascus and throughout the region in 1173, he was half paralyzed as a result of the wall which had fallen on his body, and he lay on his back until he died, occurred in Ramadan 1180.

Raslàn b-Yahya Al Qary^1o writes these sentences in his work:

"The Minister Governor of Damascus", p. 82, which contains the biography of 'Abd Pasha Ash-Shitadjy:

"In 1173, in the month of Rabia' I, on the night of the 7th, in the last third of the night, an earthquake occurred wanted by God, we never had seen a similar one before; the tops of the minarets fell, some houses collapsed and some people were killed. — it was their time — some mosques were damaged. The phenomenon lasted 27 nights with low intensity, then the night of Monday 4 Rabiaa II, half an hour after dusk, a very violent shock occurred, which did not spare the minarets, neither the domes nor the mosques, the hammams, and the buildings which had resisted were no longer of any use, no one dared to enter. Many saw their houses collapse on them, several took and fled, but the landslides killed them in the alleys. The columns broke apart. The eastern wall of the Umayyad mosque collapsed, and the East minaret was damaged and by collapsing, damaged a third of the sanctuary. People sought refuge in the desert, some set up cabins bamboo, the others set up the tent; the number of victims who found death in Syria is incalculable. May the clemency of God accompany them, those who died in faith. In the villages too, there was a crowd of victims. God is merciful in his plans and actions. When reached the capital the news of the events occurring in Syria, of the almost total destruction of the buildings, an expedition of architects, specialists in vaults, accompanied by masons set out to repair the Umayyad mosque and the citadel, and they expelled 'Abdy Pasha in the month of Jumada II 1173."

Footnotes

1a Taher, B.E.O., 1975, p.99.

1b Al Bidiri, Hawadith, p.228.

2a B.E.O., 1975, P.P. 72-76.

1c Dussand, T.H.S.A.M., p.393.

1d Dozy, supt. t. II, p.296.

2b Dozy, sup. t. I, p.734.

1e See An Nu'ymi, ad Daris, 2/395.

1f He was born in the year 1115 AH.

2c Cf. Taher, B.E.O., 1975, P.P.80-94.

1g Yaqût, Mu'djam, 1/563.

2d Tarikh madinat Dimsshq, éd. Al Minadjid, 2/100.

1h Kurd Ali, Khitat ac-Cham.

1i Kurd Ali, Khitat ac-Cham.

1j Ibn Abd al Hady, Thimar, 224.

? Al Minadjed, Wolat Dimachq, p.89.

1k Herzfeld, Studies, dans Ars Islamics, IX 1942, 46-49; Creswell, Cairene Madrasas, dans B.IFAO XXI, 1923, 6-12.

2e Creswell, Cairene Madrasas, BIFAO XXI, 27.

3a Sauvaget, Perles choisies, 111; Ibn Khallikân Biographical Dictionary, 11, 32-36.

1l AL Nu'imi, ad daris, 2/368.

1m Taher, B.E.O., 1975, p.p. 102-104

1n Volney, Voyage en Egypte et en Syrie, p.166

1o Volney, Voyage en Egypte et en Syrie, p.105; Kitab al Wozara, p.82,83.

References

Taher, M.A. (1979): Corpus des texts arabes relatifs aux tremblements de terre et autres catastrophes naturelles, de la conquete arabe au XII H/XVIII JC, Ph.D. Thesis (Univ. Paris), 337 pp.

1174 A.H./1760 AD

Al-Bidiri¹ writes:

On the third night of Ramadan, at the time of twilight prayer, a terrible earthquake occurred. The people cut prayer short and fled in an abominable stampede. They lost their minds. They also lost clothes. The next night passed in the same way.

Footnotes

1 Hawadith, p.229; Taher, B.E.O., 1975, p.101.

Yaari (1951)

References

Yaari, A. (1951), ‘The Safed earthquake of 1759’, Sinai, 28, 349–363.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia entry for the Near East earthquakes of 1759

Paleoclimate - Droughts

References

Ambraseys (2009)

[1] ACCM Archives de la Chambre de Commerce de Marseilles

ACCM AA:340 (Seyde) 17.12.59; 28.12.59; 22.01.60.

[2] AGS Archivo General de Simancas

Seccion Estado, leg. 5875, piez. 14:7.2.1760.

[3] ANF AE Archives Nationales:

Arch. Affaires Etrangeres Paris
Bi/99 (Alexandrette) 24.12.59
Bi/1032.223-230 (Seyde) 22.12.59; Bi/1032. 246-247(Seyde) 28.12.59
Bi/1032. 248 (Seyde) 04.01.60; Bi/1032.285-290 (Seyde) 27.03.60
Bi/1120.14-26 (Tripoli) 04.02.60;Bi/1120. 46- 47 (Tripoli) 12.08.60; Bi/88.132-134 (Alep) 11.12.59
Bi/88.157-158 (Alep) 24.12.59
Bi/88.136-137 (Alep) 14.01.60
Bi/436.345-347 (Istanbul) 29.12.59
Bi/5 (Larnaka) 1759.

[4] ANR Annual Register

ANR Annual Register, London 1760, 86; 1761, 96-98
ANR Annual Register, London 1764, 102-106.

[5] AMAE CADN:

Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres, Centre des Archives Diplomatiques de Nantes Turquie (Alep 4). 21.11.1759
Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres, Centre des Archives Diplomatiques de Nantes Turquie (Alep 4). 07.12.1759
Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres, Centre des Archives Diplomatiques de Nantes Turquie (Alep 4). 12.12.1759
Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres, Centre des Archives Diplomatiques de Nantes Turquie (Alep 4). 24.12.1759
Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres, Centre des Archives Diplomatiques de Nantes Turquie (Alep 4). 28.01.1760
Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres, Centre des Archives Diplomatiques de Nantes Turquie (Alep 4). 19.04.1760
Turquie (Seyde) 07.12.1759
Turquie (Seyde) 17.12.1759
Turquie (Tripoli) 18.12.1759, 18.01.1760
Turquie (Jerusalem) 25.02.1760; 31.03.1760; 22.03.1760

[6] ARG Allgemein. Rijksarch. 'S Gravenhage

ARG Allgemein. Rijksarch. 'S Gravenhage Legatie Turkije 393 (Aleppo) 11.12.59.

[7] BBA Basbakanlik Arivi

Basbakanlik Arivi Istanbul; BBA Ahkam D Sam-i serif 195; BBA D B5 M; BNE Bab-i Defteri, Bina Emini 15914; BBA CD Cevdet Dahiliye 1181 (20.05.1173); BBA CE Cevdet Evkaf Tasnifi 1823 (11.1173); 1596 (n.d.); 1823 (03.12.1173); 2219 (08.12.1773); BBA CM Cevdet Maliye 28549, 29081; BBA CN Cevdet Nafia 1038 (05.01.1172); BBA MD Miihimme Defteri 162:77-78 (04.1174); BBA MMD Maliyeden Miidevver Defterler 19198 6-8; 3160.2, 4-6, 7-9, 11-19, 29 30, 218, 282, 300-302, 542, 906 9999.272 (10.03.1184).

[8] BN Bibliotheque Nationale

BN Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris BN NAF 20236:115.

[9]PRO FO Public Records Office, Foreign Office Special Papers

Public Records Office, Foreign Office Special Papers, London; SP.110/36, 42, 47 (Aleppo) 22.12.1759 SP 110/36, 39 (Aleppo) 04.12.1759; SP 110/36, 41 (Aleppo) 22.12.1759; SP 110/36, 42 (Aleppo) 22.12.1759; SP 110/36, 44 (Aleppo) 22.12.1759; SP 110/36, 45 (Aleppo) 22.12.1759.

[10] WIL WMS

WIL WMS Ar. 274, fol. 166ab.

[11] Press reports:

PAN 1760, 86-87; 1761, 96-98, 1764, 102- 106
PES 1760, 358-360
PGF 1760, 105-106
PHB 1760, 13
PLC 1760, 249, 550
PMDF 1760, 3:210-211
PMHP 1760, 2:141, 3:240-242
Nederlandsch Post-Ryder 1760, 229-232, 349-350
PNP 1760, 229-232, 349-350

[12] Papers:

Albini and Stucchi (1992)
Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989)
Anonymous (1760a, b, c)
Anonymous (1787)
Anonymous (1956)
Bachiene (1766)
al-Bidiri, in Taher (1974)
Bramsen (1818)
Braik (1982)
al-Budayiri (1959)
Burton and Drake (1872, i. 37, 96)
Charles-Roux (1928)
Clouzot (1914)
Cousinery (1760)
Daeron et al. (2005)
Dahmaan (1948, 1982)
Dienner (1886)
Donati (1759)
F.C.H.R. (1927)
Findikli (1978)
Golubovich (1922)
Guys (1822)
Hakobyan (1956)
Ibn al-Ghazzi (1948)
Kitto (1844, i. 89-90)
Lemmens (1898, 1304-307, 337-342)
Maas (1775, iv. 134)
Mariti (1792, i. 352-354)
al-Muradi 83)
Paulian (1761, iii. 341)
Rabbi Simha (1946, 382-423)
Rabbi Yosef (1971, 286-301)
Rafeq (1966, 227)
Rivkind (1928, 124-125)
Russell (1769, 529-531)
Skaf (1975, 286-287)
Squire (1820, 304-307)
Taher (1974/5, 52-108)
Thiollet (1977, 176)
al'Umari (f. 242v)
Vasif (Tarih, i. 177-178)
Volney (1787, i. 304, ii. 187, 212, 238-47, 269-271)
Yaari (1946, 382-423; 1951, 28, 349-363)

Ambraseys and Barazangi (1989)

British and French consular correspondence from Turkey, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt
diaries and letters written by merchants, clerics, and church officials
private correspondence of the Jewish communities in the region
reports and local histories written by contemporary observers and near-contemporary chroniclers
accounts left by travelers who visited the affected region shortly after the earthquake
press reports
- Archives Historiques Ch. Comm. Marseille: AA/340/1759-60
- Zalzal sanat 1173, edited by M. A. Dahman, in al-Mashriq, 42, 333-37, 1948
- Archives Natl. Paris: B1/1032/1959-60
- Edut bi-Jhossef, edited by Ben Zvi, Daron. 40, Jerusalem, 1933
- Ahmad al-Budayri, Hawadith Dimashq al-yawmiyya, edited by A. I. Karim, Cairo, 1959
- Findikli, Mur'it-tavanli, Bayazit Library MS.F.429, Istanbul
- Dahman, M. A., Fi rihab Dimishq, published by Dar Al-Fukr in Damascus, 1982
- Public Record Office, Archives British Legations: Levant Co. SP/110:36
- Tarih-i Vasif, i:177, Istanbul, 1804
- Yaari, A. Sinai: 28.349, Jerusalem, 1951
- Vitaliano Donati, Giornale del viaggio, Bibl. Reale MS. 291, Torino

References

Albini, P., Stucchi, M. (1992), ‘A document from the Archivo General de Simancas about the 1759 earthquake in Syria’, Proceedings of the Regional Workshop on Archaeoseismicity in the Mediterranean Region, Damascus, pp. 60–61.

Anonymous (1760a), ‘Lettre d’un negocient Francais’, Gazette de France, no. 9, pp. 1–4.

Anonymous (1760b), ‘Lettres de divers lieues de la Syrie’, Gazette de France, no. 10, pp. 118–120.

La Gazette de France 1759

La Gazette de France 1760

Anonymous (1760c), Correspondence, The London Chronicle, no. 501, pp. 249, 550, London.

Anonymous (1787), Viaggio da Gerusaleme per le coste della Soria 1767, vol. 1, Livorno, p. 114

Anonymous (1956), Note d’histoire seismique; les seismes de ´ 1759 au Liban, Ksara: Observatoire de Ksara

Bachiene W. A. (1766–75), Historische und geographische Beschreibung von Palastina, 7 volumes, Leipzig.

al- Bidiri, in Taher (1974)

Taher, M. A. (1974), ‘Traite de la fortification des demeures ´ contre l’horreur des seismes’, ´ Annales Islamologiques, 12, 131–159

Bramsen vid (1818), Promenades d’un voyageur prussien, vol. 1, Paris

Braik, Mikha’il (1982), Ta’rikh al-Sham 1720–1782, Damascus, pp. 78–82.

al-Budayyri, Ahmed, al-Hallaq, Hawadith Dimashq al-yawmiyah, ed. A. I. Abd al-Karim, Cairo, 1959, pp. 222–227, 233

Burton, R., Drake, C. F. (1872), Unexplored Syria, London

Burton, R., Drake, C. F. (1872), Unexplored Syria, London

Charles-Roux, C. (1928), Les echelles de Syrie et de Palestine au ´ XVIII-e siecle ` , pp. 209–211, Paris

Clouzot, E. (1914), ‘Une enquete seismologique au XVIII ´ siecle’, ` La Geographie ´ , 29, 1–22

Cousinery, M. (1760), ‘Sur un tremblement de terre en Syrie’, Hist. Acad. Royal Sci. 23, 4; also Coll. Academ., 12, 97, 1786

Dahmaan, M. A. (1948), ‘Les tremblements de terre de 1173/1759 a Damas et dans ses environs’, ` al-Mashriq, 42, 333–347.

Dahmaan, M. A. (1982), Fi rihab Dimashk, Damascus: Dar al-Fukr.

Dienner, C. (1886), Libanon, Grudlinien der physischen Geographie etc., Vienna: A. Holder, pp. 255–262

Donati, V. (1759), Giornale del viaggio fatto in Levante nell’anno 1759, MS Biblioteca Reale di Torino, varie 291, vol. 1, fols. 67–72.

F.Ch.R. (1927), ‘Le tremblement de terre de Syrie en 1759’, Revue de l'Histoire des Colonies Francaises 15, 591–594.

Findikli, Suleyman Efendi, Semdanizadeh, ¨ Mur ’it-Tevanli ¨ , BL MS f. 429a, modern Turkish text, ed. M. Aktepe, vol. 2A, p. 34, Istanbul, 1978

Golubovich, G. (1922), Biblioteca bio-bibliographica della Terra Santa e dell’Oriente Francescano, vol. 1, Florence, p. 175.

Guys, C. E. (1822), ‘Le tremblement de terre qui a bouleverse´ la Haute-Syrieen aout 1822’, ˆ Bull. Soc. Geogr ´ ., 1, 301–305.

Hakobyan, V. A. (1951, 1956), Manr zamanakagrut’yunner XIII–XVIII dar (Armenian short chronicles, thirteenth–eighteenth centuries), 2 volumes, Erevan

Ibn al-Ghazzi (n.d.), Nahr al-dhahab fi ta’rikh Halab, 3:302, Aleppo

Kitto, J. (1844), History of Palestine and the Holy Land, vol. 1, London, pp. 89–90. - lots of excerpts starting on page lxxxix

Lemmens, H. J. (1898), ‘Al-zalazal fi Suriyah’, al-Mashriq, 1, 304–307, 337–342.

Maas, G. A. (1775), Historische Beschreibung von Palastina ¨ , vol. 4, p. 13.

Mariti, G. (1792), Travels through Cyprus, Syria and Palestine, vol. 1, Dublin, pp. 352–354.

al-Muradi, U., Silk al-durr, iii.83, in Damaan, 1982

Paulian, A. H. (1761), Dictionnaire de physique, vol. 3, Avignon, p. 341.

Rabbi Simha b. Yehosjua (1946), Travels, ed. A. Yaari, pp. 382–423.

Rabbi Yosef Sofer (1971), Iqrot Eretz Israel, ed. A. Yaari, Massada: Ramat-Gan, pp. 286–301.

Rafeq (1966, 227)

Rivkind, Y. (1928), Dapim Bodedim, Jerusalem, pp. 124–125.

Russell, P. (1760), ‘An account of the late earthquake in Syria’, Phil. Trans. 51, 529–534.

Skaf, A. (1975), ‘Fi zikra al-zalzala’, al-Rissala al-Muhallisiya, 24, 286–287.

Squire Col. (1820), Travels through Part of the Ancient Syria and Syria Salutaris, London: R. Walpole

Taher, M. A. (1974), ‘Traite de la fortification des demeures ´ contre l’horreur des seismes’, ´ Annales Islamologiques, 12, 131–159

Thiollet, D. (1977), La nation francaise de Tripoli au XVIIe et XVIIIe siecles, These, Universite de Paris V.

[al-‘Umari, Muhammad Amin, Manhal al-auliya (M), ed. Sa’id Diwahchi, Mosul, 1967.]

al-‘Umari, Yasin al-Khatib, Al-athar al-jaliya fi ’l-hawadith al-ardiya, MS, Iraq Academy, Baghdad; also BL Or. 6300.

Vasif, Ahmed, Mehasin al-asar ve hakaik al-ahbar, 4 volumes, MS, Hazine 1405, Topkapi Sarayi, Istanbul and ed. M. Ilgurel, Istanbul, 1978, also MS TY 5979, UIL, ¨ Istanbul.

Volney, C. F. (1787), Voyage en Syrie et en Egypte 1783–5, vol. 1, p. 304; vol. 2, pp. 187, 212, 238–247, 269–271. - ck also p 178

[Rabbi Simha b. Yehosjua (1946), Travels, ed. A. Yaari, pp. 382–423]

Yaari, A. (1946), Masaot Eretz-Israel, Tel-Aviv: Gazit, pp. 382–423.

Yaari, A. (1951), ‘The Safed earthquake of 1759’, Sinai, 28, 349–363.

Mercure de France

Antonopolous (1980) cites Mercure de France for a tsunami and/or earthquake report on 30 Oct. 1759 CE. His catalog entry is as follows

21. 1759 October 30. Coasts of Israel and Lebanon Acre (H = 2.50 m) (M = IV)

Ref: Mercure de France, Paris (December 1759), Gazette de France, Paris (March 1st, 8th, 1760), Mercure de France, Paris (February 1769).

The Gazette de France issues are in the textual evidence section but I could not easily find the earthquake and/or tsunami reports in the Mercure de France issues. The relevant Mercure de France issues are in the collapsible panels below as embedded scrollable documents.

December 1759

February 1769

1759 CE Safed and Baalbek Quakes

30 Oct. and 25 Nov. 1759 CE

by Jefferson Williams

Introduction & Summary

Textual Evidence

Archaeoseismic Evidence

Landslide Evidence

Tsunamogenic Evidence

Paleoseismic Evidence

Notes

Paleoclimate - Droughts

References