On 1 January 1837 CE, between 4:30 and 5:00 p.m., a powerful earthquake struck the central and northern Galilee. The worst damage extended mainly to the northwest, though reports also describe heavy destruction to the east. Among the major towns, Safed suffered most severely, with some accounts estimating 4,000–5,000 deaths, though lower figures also appear in the sources. Contemporary descriptions speak of Safed as effectively annihilated, and the town was likely subjected to a catastrophic landslide. William McClure Thomson visited Safed seventeen days after the shock and observed that in the Jewish quarter houses perched on the steep upper slope had collapsed downslope, crushing lower dwellings until those at the bottom were, in his words, “covered up to a great depth with the ruins of many others.” Slope-stability analysis by Katz and Crouvi (2007) concluded that landslides occurred in Safed during both the 1759 and 1837 earthquakes. The 1837 shock was reportedly felt from Antioch to Egypt, and aftershocks continued for months. In the Galilee, some villages were completely destroyed while nearby ones were scarcely affected, indicating strong local site effects. Based on the available historical and instrumental constraints, Ambraseys (1997) estimated a magnitude (MS) of 7.0–7.1 and suggested the possibility of a multiple event. In Ambraseys (2009) the earthquake was interpreted as a shallow rupture, likely along or near the Roum Fault. Nemer and Meghraoui (2006) likewise associated the event with slip on or adjacent to the Roum Fault.
As with the 1759 CE Safed and Baalbek earthquakes, numerous primary and secondary sources describe the 1837 event. Unfortunately, not all have been accessible. This entry will be expanded as further materials become available.