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Tiberias Landslide Quake

850 - 854 CE

by Jefferson Williams









Introduction & Summary

An earthquake is reported to have struck at night. In Tiberias there was a rockslide and/or a landslide and many people died. Ambraseys (2009) dates the earthquake to 850-854 CE while Guidoboni et al (1994) date it to A.H.239 (12 June 853 - 1 June 854 CE) which is the year supplied by As-Suyuti.

Textual Evidence

Text (with hotlink) Original Language Biographical Info Religion Date of Composition Location Composed Notes
Ibn al-Jawzi Arabic
Biography

Ibn al-Jawzi was a 20th generation descendant of caliph Abu Bakr, the father-in-law of the prophet Muhammad (de Somogyi, 1932:51). He was born in Baghdad around 1115 CE and died there in 1200 CE (de Somogyi, 1932:52). A true bibliophile, he is reported to have spent most of a considerable inherited fortune in purchasing books (de Somogyi, 1932:52). He was a preacher and a prolific author whose output numbers at least in the hundreds of volumes and may have reached, as he claimed, a thousand (de Somogyi, 1932:54).

Hanbali Sunni Muslim 2nd half of the 12th c. CE Baghdad Ambraseys (2009) found a reference to this earthquake in Ibn al-Jauzi, Sedhut. I85a who, he says repeats the same information as as-Suyuti and Ibn al'Imad. Ambraseys (2009) did not provide an excerpt.
as-Suyuti Arabic
Biography

al-Suyuti is presently recognized as the most prolific author in the whole of Islamic literature (E. Geoffroy in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 9, 1991:913-916). He was widely read and famous across the Islamic world during his lifetime and was known for extreme self-confidence in his mental abilities (e.g. he had memorized 200,000 hadiths and was a polymath) which mingled with arrogance and created acrimonious relations inside Egypt (E. Geoffroy in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 9, 1991:913-916). E. Geoffroy in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 9 (1991:913-916) describes his procedure as scientific in so far as he quotes his sources with precision and presents them in a critical way and states that he cannot be considered as a mere compiler. He may have authored close to a thousand books writing on many subjects (e.g., History, Biography) besides religion and Islamic jurisprudence. as-Suyuti was born in Egypt in 1445 CE and at the age of eighteen taught Shafi'i law at the mosque of Shaykhu and gave juridicial consultations. In 1472 CE, he became a teacher of hadith at the same mosque. In 1486 CE at the age of 40, as-Suyuti retired from public life. By 1501 CE, he had completely isolated himself in his home on Rawda Island in Cairo where he worked on the editing and revision of his literary works. He died there in 1505 CE (E. Geoffroy in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 9, 1991:913-916). His book Clearing up the Description of Earthquakes is a valuable reference for historical earthquakes and is one of the earliest extant earthquake catalogs.

Sufi Muslim 15th c. CE Cairo States that there was an earthquake in Tiberias in A.H. 239 (12 June 853 - 1 June 854 CE)
Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali Arabic
Biography

Ibn al-Imad was born in Damascus in 1623 CE and lived in Cairo for a long time before returning to Damascus to teach. He died in 1679 CE (wikipedia and F. Rosenthal in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 3, 1991:807). In 1670 CE, he completed Fragments of Gold in the Accounts of Those Who Have Departed (Shadharat al-dhahab fi akhbar man dhahab) which is an annalistically arranged biographical history covering A.H. 1-1000 (F. Rosenthal in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 3, 1991:807).

Hanbali Sunni Muslim 1670 CE Damascus
Account

States that

During the night, the earth shook at Tiberias. The mountains shook, and then a big rock — eighty cubits by fifty — split open, and so... Many people died

Text (with hotlink) Original Language Biographical Info Religion Date of Composition Location Composed Notes
Sedhut. I85a by Ibn al-Jawzi

by ابن الجوزي

Aliases

Aliases Arabic
Ibn al-Jawzi ابن الجوزي
al-Jauzi ابن ال
Jamaladdin Abul-Faraj 'Abdarrahman ibn abil-Hasan ibn 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-Jauzi al-Qurashi at-Taymi al-Bakri
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAlī b. Muḥammad Abu 'l-Faras̲h̲ b. al-Jawzī
Background and Biography
Background and Biography

Ibn al-Jawzi was a 20th generation descendant of caliph Abu Bakr, the father-in-law of the prophet Muhammad (de Somogyi, 1932:51). He was born in Baghdad around 1115 CE and died there in 1200 CE (de Somogyi, 1932:52). A true bibliophile, he is reported to have spent most of a considerable inherited fortune in purchasing books (de Somogyi, 1932:52). He was a preacher and a prolific author whose output numbers at least in the hundreds of volumes and may have reached, as he claimed, a thousand (de Somogyi, 1932:54). His most famed and important work is The Book on Rightly ordered Things and the Collection of Necessary Things dealing with the History of the Kings and the Nation (Kitab al muntazam wa multaqat al-multazam fi akhbar wal-umam) which is usually referred to as Kitab al-muntazam. This text is arranged in chronological order starting from "Creation" until A.H. 574 (1178/1179 CE) and appears to have been completed shortly before his death in 1200 CE (de Somogyi, 1932:55). de Somogyi (1932:55) states that the work originally consisted of sixteen volumes, but the copyists of later times divided it into parts.

Excerpts
Characterization from Ambraseys (2009)

Ambraseys (2009) found a reference to this earthquake in Ibn al-Jauzi, Sedhut. I85a who, he says repeats the same information as as-Suyuti and Ibn al'Imad. Ambraseys (2009) did not provide an excerpt.

Locations Sources
Sources according to de Somogyi (1932)

from de Somogyi (1932:64-68)

V. The Authorities of the "Kitab al-muntazam"

The Kitab al-muntazam gives evidence of the many-sided erudition of Ibn al-Jauzi. In writing such an extensive work, he had to consult many authorities. But, unlike at-Tabari and Ibn al-Athir, Ibn al-Jauzi is not satisfied with giving the name of his authority ; in addition, he gives the complete isnad of the traditionists through whom his direct authority received his information. His elaborate and long isnads - being in the majority of the cases longer than the matn - are a peculiarity of Ibn al-Jauzi, the more so as at his time quoting of isndds in their whole length, as was customary at the time of at-Tabari, had been abandoned.1

Only Ibn al-Jauzi's main work of reference is an exception to this rule, that is ay-Tabari's work. Except in a few cases,2 he does not refer to the Ta'rikh ar-rusul wal-mulukt since its general use by all the later Arab historians was a well-known fact. But as soon as his narrative differs from that of av-TakarI, he never neglects to name the authority from whom he received an additional or a new tradition.

It may be seen from the Kitab al-muntazam that Ibn al Jauzi knew many prominent scholars of his city and read their works as well. The most remarkable of these Baghdad scholars was no doubt Abu Mansur 'Abdarrahman ibn Muhammad al-Qazzaz whom he may have well known personally and have read his books, none of which has been left to us. Excluding at-Tabari, it is he from whom Ibn al-Jauzi received most of his information on events of both general, political, and local character, and more especially for his biographical notices. There is hardly any page in the Kitab al-muntazam on which his name - quoted as either 'Abdarrahman ibn Muhammad or Abu Mansur al-Qazzaz - is not mentioned. The only reference to this scholar is to be found in the abstract entitled " Muntaqi al-'Ibar " of adh Dhahabi's chronicle made by Abu Bakr ibn Ahmad ibn Qadi Shuhba (died in a.h. 851),3 where he is said to have died in the year 535/1140-1, and to have been a disciple of al-Khatib al-Baghdadi and an eminent traditionist.

Next to al-Qazzaz, the authority most frequently quoted by Ibn al-Jauzi is Abul-Fadl Muhammad ibn Nasir al-Hafiz as-Sallami, often called Muhaddith al-'Iraq, who according to adh-Dhahabl,4 died in 550/1155. His contemporary and Ibn al-Jauzi's third important authority was Abul-Qasim Isma'il ibn Ahmad ibn as-Samarqandi, who according to adh Dhahabi5 died in 536/1141-2, and is said to have been, together with al-Qazzaz, a disciple of al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, and equally an eminent traditionist.6

The master of these scholars, Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn 'Ali ibn Thabit, commonly called al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (died in 403/1071) is also referred to in several passages of the Kitab al-muntazam. We may assume that Ibn al-Jauzi, in writing his obituary notices, made wide use of his Tarikh Baghdad, a voluminous history of learned men,7 the more so as he readily accepted the ideas of al-Khatib al-Baghdadi in ruthlessly purifying the hadiths.8

The other authorities quoted by Ibn al-Jauzi are as follows (the years in the narratives of which they are mentioned are put in brackets)9 : -
  • Ibrahim ibn Dinar al-Faqih (a.h. 381).
  • Ibrahim an-Nakha'i (a.h. 75). See Fihrist, vol. i, p. 183.
  • 'Abdalmalik ibn Qurayb al-Asma'i died in 216/831 (a.h. 131).
  • al-Arabi (a.h. 280).
  • Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Babat (a.h. 75).
  • Muhammad ibn abi Tahir al-Bazzar (a.h. 99,151, 262, 279).
  • Abu Mansur al-Bazzaz (a.h. 158
  • Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Yahya as-Suli, died in 335/946 (a.h. 132, 158, 256, 269, 286).
  • Abu 'Ali Muhassin ibn 'Ali at-Tanukhi, died in 384/994 (a.h. 391).
  • 'Amr ibn Bahr al-Laythi al-Jahiz, died in 255/869 (a.h. 158).
  • Jabala ibn Muhammad (a.h. 132).
  • Ibn Hajib (a.h. 370). He is probably Abul-Husayn 'Abdal 'aziz ibn Ibrahim ibn Hajib an-Nu'man, scribe at the time of Mu'izz addaula.
  • al-Hakim ibn 'Abdallah ibn Muhammad, died in 405/1014 : " Ta'rikh Nisabur " (a.h. 230).
  • Abul-Hasan al-Jarrahi (a.h. 260).
  • al-Hasan ibn Ja'far 'Ali (a.h. 132).
  • Abul-Hasan ibn 'Ali al-Kaukabi (a.h. 382).
  • Abul-Hasan ibn 'Ali ibn al-Ma'ali (a.h. 367, 422).
  • Abul-Hasan ibn 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn 'Abdalwahid al Hashimi (a.h. 132, 279).
  • Abul-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn 'Abdalwahhab ad-Dabbas (a.h. 93). See Fihrist, vol. i, p. 208.
  • Ibn Halaf (a.h. 151).
  • Muhammad ibn 'Abdalmalik al-Hamdanl, died in 521/1127 (a.h. 279, 381).
  • Khalid ibn 'Aylan (a.h. 132).
  • 'Ali ibn 'Umar ad-Daraqutni, died in 385/995 (a.h. 376).
  • Abu Bakr ibn abi Dunya, died in 281/894 (a.h. 105).
  • Zahir ibn Tahir ibn Muhammad, died in 533/1138 (a.h. 99, 230).
  • as-Sahhaq (a.h. 158).
  • Sa'id ibn 'Ali abu 'Abdallah Muhammad ibn Asad al-Katib al-Qari al-Bazzaz al-Baghdadi, died in 410/1019 (a.h. 408).
  • Abu Sa'id al-Himyari (a.h. 132).
  • Shahak (a.h. 86). See Fihrist, vol. ii, p. 168 ; Ibn Shahak as-Sindi.
  • 'Abdallah ibn Hasan (a.h. 132).
  • 'Abdalwahhab ibn al-Mubarak (a.h. 96, 99).
  • 'Abdalwahhab ibn Muhammad (a.h. 158)
  • 'Ali ibn 'Ubaydallah (a.h. 132). He is perhaps identical with 'All ibn 'Ubaydallah ibn Babawaih, author of a " Fihrist", see Br. Mus. Suppl., Nr. 635.
  • 'Umar ibn al-Hafiz (a.h. 101).
  • Abu 'Amr ibn al-'Ala (a.h. 158), the philologist of Basra, died probably in 159/776.10
  • Ibn abil-Fawaris (a.h. 376).
  • Abul-Hasan ibn 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Habibal-Mawardi, died in 450/1058 (a.h. 238, 240, 242).
  • al-Mubarak ibn 'Ali as-Sayrafi (a.h. 100).
  • Mahfuz ibn Ahmad (a.h. 86).
  • Muhammad ibn 'Abdalbaqi abu Bakr al-Ansari, died in 535/1140 (a.h. 256, 271, 279, 322, 329, 334, 335). See Br. Mus. Suppl., No. 622 ; he is mentioned by Ibn Nuqta as having received traditions from al-Hasan ibn 'Ali al-Jauhari.
  • Muhammad ibn 'Abdalhaytham (a.h. 75).
  • al-Mada'ini Abul-Hasan 'All ibn Muhammad, died about 840/225 (a.h. 91).
  • Ibn al-Mu'tazz (a.h. 286, 289).
  • Hibatalldh ibn al-Hasan al-Lalaqa'I, died in 418/1027 (a.h. 125).
  • Hibatallah ibn 'Abdassalam al-Katib (a.h. 422).
  • Hilal ibn al-Muhassin as-Sabi, died in 448/1056 (a.h. 353, 413).
Footnotes

1 See Brockelmann, Das Verhaltnis, etc., p. 0.

2 See Br. M. Suppl., No. 460, fol. 986, I. 14 ; fol. 177, 1. 4.

3 Br. M. Or., No. 3006, fol. 276, margin.

4 Do., MS., fol. 287a; see also as-Sam'ani: Kitab ansab, ed. D. S. Margoliouth, London-Leyden, 1912, fol. 320a.

5 Do., MS., fol. 277a.

6 adh-Dhahabi in his Ta'rikh al-islam also mentions these three men as masters of Ibn al-Jauzi, see Br. M. Or., Nr. 52, fol. 119.

7 See Br. M. Or., Nr. 303, fol. 1166, 1. 24.

8 Especially in his Al-kifdya fi ma'rifat usul 'ilm ar-riwaya, see Goldziher, Muh. St., vol. ii, p. 183.

9 As I have not yet been able to inspect the MSS. of the Constantinople libraries, the above data refer only to the narratives contained in the MSS. of the European libraries (British Museum, Oxford, Gotha, Berlin). As reference-works, I have made use of Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur, the Fihriat and Haji Khalfa, ed. Flugel.

10 This date of his death seems more probable than 154/770, which is generally accepted. See Ibn Khallikan, ed. de Slane, vol. ii, p. 402.

Online Versions and Further Reading Notes
Ibn al-Jawzi vs. Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi

Ibn al-Jawzi lived in Baghdad and completed Kitab al-muntazam shortly before his death in 1200 CE. The work is arranged chronologically from "Creation" until A.H. 574 - 1178/1179 CE (de Somogyi, 1932:55).

Sibt ibn al-Jawzi (ca. 1185 - 1256 CE) was the grandson of Ibn al-Jawzi and was raised by Ibn al-Jawzi in Baghdad (Keany, 2013:83). Sibt in Arabic means grandson through one of the grandfather's daughters. After his grandfather's death, Sibt ibn al-Jawzi moved to Damascus where he was a Preacher as well as a Historian (Keany, 2013:83). Sibt ibn al-Jawzi wrote Mirror of time in histories of the notables (Mir’at al-Zamān fī Tawarīkh al-'Ayān - مرآة الزمان في تواريخ الأعيان) in 23 volumes in the 13th century CE.

Clearing up the Description of Earthquakes by Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti

كتاب كشف الصلصلة عن وصف الزلزلة by عبد الرحمن بن كمال الدين أبي بكر بن محمد سابق الدين خضر الخضيري الأسيوطي

Aliases

Aliases Arabic
Al-Suyuti
As-Suyuti
Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti
Abu 'l-Fadl 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr ibn Muhammad Djalal al_Din al-Khudayri
Background and Biography
Background and Biography

al-Suyuti is presently recognized as the most prolific author in the whole of Islamic literature (E. Geoffroy in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 9, 1991:913-916). He was widely read and famous across the Islamic world during his lifetime and was known for extreme self-confidence in his mental abilities (e.g. he had memorized 200,000 hadiths and was a polymath) which mingled with arrogance and created acrimonious relations inside Egypt (E. Geoffroy in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 9, 1991:913-916). E. Geoffroy in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 9 (1991:913-916) describes his procedure as scientific in so far as he quotes his sources with precision and presents them in a critical way and states that he cannot be considered as a mere compiler. He may have authored close to a thousand books writing on many subjects (e.g., History, Biography) besides religion and Islamic jurisprudence. as-Suyuti was born in Egypt in 1445 CE and at the age of eighteen taught Shafi'i law at the mosque of Shaykhu and gave juridicial consultations. In 1472 CE, he became a teacher of hadith at the same mosque. In 1486 CE at the age of 40, as-Suyuti retired from public life. By 1501 CE, he had completely isolated himself in his home on Rawda Island in Cairo where he worked on the editing and revision of his literary works. He died there in 1505 CE (E. Geoffroy in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 9, 1991:913-916). His book Clearing up the Description of Earthquakes (Kashf as-Salsalah 'an wasf Az-zalzalak) is a valuable reference for historical earthquakes and is one of the earliest extant earthquake catalogs.

Excerpts
English from Sprenger (1843)

239. At Tiberias.

English from Sprenger (1843) - embedded



Original Document

  • The Noor book courtesy of Najib Abou Karaki (personal correspondence, 2022)



























Chronology
Year Reference Corrections Notes
12 June 853 - 1 June 854 CE A.H.239 none Calculated using CHRONOS
Locations Notes and Further Reading
References

Sprenger (1843). "As-Soyuti's work on Earthquakes, ." Journal of The Asiatic Society of Bengal 12(141): 741-749.

Nejjar, S. (1973-1974). Traité du tremblement de terre / Jalal ad-Din as-Suyut'i ; trad. annotée [de l'arabe] de Saïd Nejjar. Rabat, Cahiers du centre universitaire de la recherche scientifique.

Al-Sadani, A. (1971). (Jalal-Eddine Al-Suyouti) Kasff Al-Salsala Wa Wasf Al-Zalzalah, in Arabic. Rabat, Morocco.

References form the Encyclopedia of Islam

al-Suyuti's biography, written by his disciple 'Abd al-Kadir al-Shadhili, Bahdjat al-adbidin bitardjamat Djaldl al-Din (mss. in London, Dublin, Kuwayt)

Shams al-Din al-Dawudi, Taradjamat al-Suyuti (ms. Tubingen)

Nadjm al-Din al-Ghazzi, al-Kawakib al-sa'ira bi-a'ydn al-mi'a a al-'ashira, Beirut 1945, i, 226-31.

E.M. Sartain, Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti - remains the most complete study in a Western language

eadem, Jalal al-Din as-Suyuti's relations with the people of Takrur, in JSS, xvi (1971), 193-8.

S. Abu Djib mentions several studies in Arabic (op. cit., 331-2).

In his Muhammad's birthday festival (Leiden 1993, 45-70), N.J. Kaptein presents and translates al-Suyuti's fatwa which validates the practice of the mawlid nabawi

Fragments of Gold in the Accounts of Those Who Have Departed by Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali

(شذرات الذهب في أخبار من ذهب) by عبد الحي بن أحمد بن محمد ابن العماد العكري الحنبلي أبو الفلاح

Aliases

Aliases Aliases
Ibn al-ʿImād إبن العماد
Abd al-Ḥayy bin Aḥmad bin Muḥammad ibn al-ʿImād al-ʿAkarī al-Ḥanbalī Abū al-Falāḥ عبد الحي بن أحمد بن محمد ابن العماد العكري الحنبلي أبو الفلاح
Background and Biography
Background and Biography

Ibn al-Imad was born in Damascus in 1623 CE and lived in Cairo for a long time before returning to Damascus to teach. He died in 1679 CE (wikipedia and F. Rosenthal in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 3, 1991:807). In 1670 CE, he completed Fragments of Gold in the Accounts of Those Who Have Departed (Shadharat al-dhahab fi akhbar man dhahab) which is an annalistically arranged biographical history covering A.H. 1-1000 (F. Rosenthal in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 3, 1991:807).

Excerpts
English from Guidoboni et al (1994)

During the night, the earth shook at Tiberias. The mountains shook, and then a big rock — eighty cubits by fifty — split open, and so... Many people died

Chronology

During the night

Seismic Effects Locations Online Versions and Further Reading

Archaeoseismic Evidence

Location (with hotlink) Status Intensity Notes
Tiberias - Introduction n/a n/a n/a
Tiberias - Mount Berineke possible Archaeoseismic Evidence from the church on top of Mount Berineke is undated ( Ferrario et al, 2014)
Tiberias - Gane Hammat possible ≥ 7 End of Phase III destruction layer - ~9th century CE - Onn and Weksler-Bdolah (2016) wrote the following about the end of Phase III
A thin layer of ash covered the tombs. Above it were the remains of walls and pebble floors. This layer represents an Early Islamic habitation that dates from the second half of the eighth century CE, probably after the earthquake of 749 CE, until the first half of the ninth century CE, when it reached its peak. A destruction layer, possibly caused by the earthquake that struck in 853 CE [i.e., Tiberias Landslide Quake], sealed the buildings.
Al-Muwaqqar possible ≥ 8 9th century CE earthquake - Najjar (1989) identified two destruction levels in Area IV at Al-Muwaqqar which he described as follows:
A second architectural phase and occupation was excavated in the Palace. It is obvious from Sq. D5 (W.12), A2 (W.4) and oven (tannur) loc.4, D3 (W.16, 17) and H 14 (W.18, 19) that all these walls belong to a second phase of occupation. It seems that after a partial destruction of the Palace by the earthquake of A.D. 747, the remains of the Palace were used by the local population. The destruction layer was cleared (the walls of the second phase were built directly above the flagstone pavement of the Umayyad Palace) and the Palace and its surrounding area (Sq. H14) were reoccupied.

After one century and probably slightly later the Palace was abandoned after another destruction (earthquake?) later in the 9th century (during this period Jordan was struck by earthquakes three times in 847, 853-54, 859-60)
Location (with hotlink) Status Intensity Notes
Tiberias - Introduction



Tiberias - Mount Berineke



Tiberias - Gane Hammat



Al-Muwaqqar



Landslide Evidence

1 PGA to Intensity conversions use Wald et al (1999).
Location (with hotlink) Status Minimum PGA (g) Likely PGA (g) Likely Intensity1 Comments
Umm el-Qanatir possible 0.36 0.5 8.2 Archeoseismic evidence suggests Intensity ≥ 8
Fishing Dock Landslide possible 0.15 - 0.5 0.5 8.2 undated landslide
Ein Gev Landslide possible 0.37 ? ≥7.7 dated to younger than 5 ka BP
Location (with hotlink) Status Minimum PGA (g) Likely PGA (g) Likely Intensity1 Comments
Umm el-Qanatir



Fishing Dock Landslide



Ein Gev Landslides



Tsunamogenic Evidence

Paleoseismic Evidence

Location (with hotlink) Status Intensity Notes
Jordan Valley - Dir Hagla Trench possible to unlikely ≥ 7 Reches and Hoexter (1981) dated Event B to 700-900 CE.
Dead Sea - Seismite Types n/a n/a n/a
Dead Sea - En Feshka probable 5.8 - 7.5 (104 cm.)
5.7 - 7.1 (110.5 cm.)
8.0 - 8.8 (113 cm.)
Kagan et. al. (2011) identified several seismites from around this time.
Depth (cm.) Thickness (cm.) Seismite Type Modeled Age (± 1σ) Modeled Age (± 2σ) Quake Assignment (Kagan) Quake Assignment (Williams)
104 6 1 912 CE ± 27 894 CE ± 61 873 A.D., Local Source not assigned
110.5 l.5 Questionable 887 CE ± 28 864 CE ± 63 873 A.D., Local Source not assigned
113 3 4 877 CE ± 28 852 CE ± 64 873 A.D., Local Source not assigned
Dead Sea - En Gedi possible 5.6 - 7.0 Migowski et. al. (2004) assigned a 859 CE date to a 0.8 cm. thick linear wave (Type 1) seismite at a depth of 169.8 cm. (1.698 m).
Dead Sea - Nahal Ze 'elim unlikely At site ZA-2, Kagan et. al. (2011) did not find any seismites whose time window encompassed the 850-854 CE Tiberias Landslide Quake.
Araba - Introduction n/a n/a n/a
Araba - Qasr Tilah possible ≥ 7 Haynes et al. (2006) dated Events II and III to between the 7th and 12th centuries CE.
Araba - Taybeh Trench unlikely LeFevre et al. (2018) did not find any seismic events whose time window encompassed the 850-854 CE Tiberias Landslide Quake.
Araba - Qatar Trench possible ≥ 7 Klinger et. al. (2015) dated Event Esupp1 to 925 CE ± 119 (806-1044 CE).
Location (with hotlink) Status Intensity Notes
Dir Hagla Trenches

Reches and Hoexter (1981) dated Event B to 700-900 CE.



Dead Sea - Seismite Types



Dead Sea - En Feshka

Kagan et. al. (2011) identified several seismites from around this time.

Depth (cm.) Thickness (cm.) Seismite Type Modeled Age (± 1σ) Modeled Age (± 2σ) Quake Assignment (Kagan) Quake Assignment (Williams)
104 6 1 912 CE ± 27 894 CE ± 61 873 A.D., Local Source not assigned
110.5 l.5 Questionable 887 CE ± 28 864 CE ± 63 873 A.D., Local Source not assigned
113 3 4 877 CE ± 28 852 CE ± 64 873 A.D., Local Source not assigned


Dead Sea - En Gedi

Migowski et. al. (2004) assigned a 859 CE date to a 0.8 cm. thick linear wave (Type 1) seismite at a depth of 169.8 cm. (1.698 m).



Dead Sea - Nahal Ze 'elim

At site ZA-2, Kagan et. al. (2011) did not find any seismites whose time window encompassed the 850-854 CE Tiberias Landslide Quake.



Araba - Introduction



Araba - Qasr Tilah

Haynes et al. (2006) dated Events II and III to between the 7th and 12th centuries CE.



Araba - Taybeh Trench

LeFevre et al. (2018) did not find any seismic events whose time window encompassed the 850-854 CE Tiberias Landslide Quake.



Araba - Qatar Trench

Klinger et. al. (2015) dated Event Esupp1 to 925 CE ± 119 (806-1044 CE).



Notes

Ambraseys (2009)

AD 850–854 Tiberias

An earthquake in Tiberias caused landslides and the fall of a large rock from the mountain overlooking the town resulted in the deaths of a number of people.

The earthquake occurred during the night in 239 a.H. (12 June 853 to 1 June 854) and it is mentioned by rather late chroniclers, who repeat the same information (Ibn al-Jauzi, Sedhut. I85a; al-Suyuti B and P.21b; Ibn al-‘Imad, Shadh ii. 91), namely that the earthquake happened during the night at Tabariya, causing landslides in the mountains and narrow valleys nearby. A large rock of dimensions about 50 m × 30 m detached itself and landed on the town, killing people, while parts of the town slumped into the ground.

Guidoboni et al (1994)

(267) 12 June 853 -1 June 854 *Tiberias landslide

sources Ibn al-Hanbali, Shadharat al-dhahab 91
literature Taber (1979)
catalogues Amiran (1950-51); Poirier and Taher (1980)

The 17th century Syrian biographer Ibn al-Hanbali reports that there were many victims in an earthquake at Tiberias: "During the night, the earth shook at Tiberias. The mountains shook, and then a big rock — eighty cubits by fifty — split open, and so... Many people died".

Paleoclimate - Droughts

References