1927 Jericho earthquake

1927 Jericho earthquake
Jerusalem
Nablus
Tiberias
Date July 11, 1927 (1927-07-11)
Origin time 13:08 UTC [1]
Magnitude 6.3 Mw [2]
Depth 15 km (9.3 mi) [2]
Epicenter 31°55′N 35°38′E / 31.92°N 35.63°E / 31.92; 35.63Coordinates: 31°55′N 35°38′E / 31.92°N 35.63°E / 31.92; 35.63
Areas affected Mandatory Palestine
Transjordan
Total damage Serious damage to Jericho, Ramle, Tiberias, Nablus and Jerusalem
Max. intensity V+ (Fairly Strong) [3]
Casualties 287–500 [1][4]

The 1927 Jericho earthquake was a devastating event that shook Mandatory Palestine and Transjordan on July 11 at 15:08 local time. The epicenter of the earthquake was in the northern area of the Dead Sea. The cities of Jerusalem, Jericho, Ramle, Tiberias, and Nablus were heavily damaged and at least 287 were estimated to have been killed.

Earthquake

Vered and Striem (1977) located the earthquake epicenter to be near the Damya Bridge in the Jordan Valley, and close to the city of Jericho.[5] Later research by Avni (1999), located the epicenter to be around 50 km south of this location near the Dead Sea.[6]

Effects

Mandatory Palestine

Jerusalem

The death toll in Jerusalem included more than 130 people and around 450 were injured. About 300 houses collapsed or were severely damaged to the point of not being usable. The earthquake also caused heavy damage to the domes of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the al-Aqsa Mosque.

The rest of the country

The earthquake was especially severe in Nablus where it destroyed around 300 buildings, including the Mosque of Victory and the historic parts of the Great Mosque of Nablus.[5] The death toll in Nablus included more than 150 people and around 250 were injured.

In Jericho, a number of houses collapsed, including several relatively new hotels in one of which three female tourists from India were killed.[7] In addition, the Allenby Bridge collapsed and the Jordan river was blocked for about 21 hours following the collapse of the Marl cliffs in its banks. Ramla and Tiberias were also heavily damaged.

Emirate of Transjordan

The most affected city in Transjordan was Salt in which 80 people were killed, in the rest of Transjordan another 20 were killed by the earthquake.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Kallner-Amiran, D. H. "A Revised Earthquake Catalog of Palestine". Retrieved July 8, 2012.
  2. 1 2 ISC (2015), ISC-GEM Global Instrumental Earthquake Catalogue (1900-2009), Version 2.0, International Seismological Centre
  3. ↑ Ambraseys, N. N.; Melville, R. D.; Adams, R. D. (2005), The Seismicity of Egypt, Arabia and the Red Sea: A Historical Review, Cambridge University Press, p. 122, ISBN 978-0521020251
  4. ↑ National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS), Significant Earthquake Database, National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA, doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K
  5. 1 2 Wachs, Daniel; Levitte, Dov (June 1978), Damage Caused By Landslides During the Earthquakes of 1837 and 1927 in the Galilee Region, Geological Survey of Israel
  6. ↑ Shapira, Avi; Avni, Ron; Nur, Amos (1993). "A new estimate for the epicenter of the Jericho earthquake of 11 July 1927". Israel Journal of Earth Sciences. Israel Geological Society. pp. 93–96.
  7. ↑ Duff, Douglas V. (1934) Sword for Hire.The Saga of a Modern Free-Companion. John Murray, London. 1st Edition. pp.219–227
Sources

External links

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