The 9 July 551 Ad Beirut Earthquake, Eastern Mediterranean Region

Darawcheh, Ryad; Sbeinati, Mohamed Reda; Margottini, Claudio; Paolini, S.

doi:10.1080/13632460009350377

Cited by 34 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…The most recent may correspond with the large, historically documented earthquake that occurred in Lebanon in 551 AD (Darawcheh et al 2000). Ages of higher terraces and shoreline features are less well constrained.…”

Section: Coastal Upliftmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strain partitioning of active transpression within the Lebanese restraining bend of the Dead Sea Fault (Lebanon and SW Syria)

Gomez

Nemer

Tabet

et al. 2007

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Recent neotectonic, palaeoseismic and GPS results along the central Dead Sea fault system elucidate the spatial distribution of crustal deformation within a large (c.180-km-long) restraining bend along this major continental transform. Within the ‘Lebanese’ restraining bend, the Dead Sea fault system splays into several key branches, and we suggest herein that active deformation is partitioned between NNE–SSW strike-slip faults and WNW–ESE crustal shortening. When plate motion is resolved into strike-slip parallel to the two prominent NNE–SSW strike-slip faults (the Yammouneh and Serghaya faults) and orthogonal motion, their slip rates are sufficient to account for all expected strike-slip motion. Shortening of the Mount Lebanon Range is inferred from the geometry and kinematics of the Roum Fault, as well as preliminary quantification of coastal uplift. The results do not account for all expected crustal shortening, suggesting that some contraction is probably accommodated in the Anti-Lebanon Range. It also seems unlikely that the present kinematic configuration characterizes the entire Cenozoic history of the restraining bend. Present-day strain partitioning contrasts with published observations on finite deformation in Lebanon, demonstrating distributed shear and vertical-axis block rotations. Furthermore, the present-day proportions of strike-slip displacement and crustal shortening are inconsistent with the total strike-slip offset and the lack of a significantly thickened crust. This suggests that the present rate of crustal shortening has not persisted for the longer life of the transform. Hence, we suggest that the Lebanese restraining bend evolved in a polyphase manner, involving an earlier episode of wrench-faulting and block rotation, followed by a later period of strain partitioning.

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Section: Coastal Upliftmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strain partitioning of active transpression within the Lebanese restraining bend of the Dead Sea Fault (Lebanon and SW Syria)

Gomez

Nemer

Tabet

et al. 2007

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“…This event was felt strongly in Antioch and Alexandria, and felt in Phoenicia, Syria, Palestine, Arabia, and Mesopotamia. Estimated magnitudes: Darawcheh et al, 2000).…”

Section: Trench Setting: the Yammoûneh Basinmentioning

confidence: 99%

12,000-Year-Long Record of 10 to 13 Paleoearthquakes on the Yammouneh Fault, Levant Fault System, Lebanon

Daëron¹,

Klinger²,

Tapponnier³

et al. 2007

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America

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We present results of the first paleoseismic study of the Yammoûneh fault, the main on-land segment of the Levant fault system within the Lebanese restraining bend. A trench was excavated in the Yammoûneh paleolake, where the fault cuts through finely laminated sequences of marls and clays. First-order variations throughout this outstanding stratigraphic record appear to reflect climate change at centennial and millennial scales. The lake beds are offset and deformed in a 2-mwide zone coinciding with the mapped fault trace. Ten to thirteen events are identified, extending back more than ϳ12 kyr. Reliable age bounds on seven of these events constrain the mean seismic return time to 1127 ‫ע‬ 135 yr between ϳ12 ka and ϳ6.4 ka, implying that this fault slips in infrequent but large (M ϳ7.5) earthquakes. Our results also provide conclusive evidence that the latest event at this site was the great A.D. 1202 historical earthquake, and suggest that the Yammoûneh fault might have been the source of a less well-known event circa A.D. 350. These findings, combined with previous paleoseismic data from the Zebadani valley, imply that the parallel faults bounding the Beqaa release strain in events with comparable recurrence intervals but significantly different magnitudes. Our results contribute to document the clustering of large events on the Levant fault into centennial episodes, such as that during the eleventh through twelfth centuries, separated by millennial periods of quiescence, and raise the possibility of a M Ͼ7 event occurring on the Yammoûneh fault in the coming century. Such a scenario should be taken into account in regional seismic-hazard assessments and planned for accordingly.

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“…The damage caused by the 551 CE earthquake as reported by historical files gathered by [11]: "The cities of Byblus, Tyrus and Tripolis were also destroyed with their inhabitants". If the damage caused by the 551CE earthquake event is compared to the likely damage nowadays by a similar event, then only the damage to unreinforced masonry buildings can be compared, since it was the only building typology which existed at that time.…”

Section: Results and Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A study by Darawcheh et al, [11] suggested the surface-wave magnitude of the earthquake (Ms), to be about 7.1-7.3, and estimated its seismic intensity of IX-X intensity for Byblos. It suggested that the strike-slip leftlateral Roum fault is a possible causative fault of the earthquake.…”

Section: Results and Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%