The 995 Balu earthquake took place in 995 or 996. It reportedly affected the Armenian areas of Balu, Cop'k (or Covk'), Palnatun (or Palin), and the districts of Hasteank and Xorjean.
[Guidoboni, Traina, 1995, p. 126-127]
The areas affected were districts in what is currently the border area between
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...
and
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
. The primary source for the event is the historian
Stepanos Asoghik
Stepanos Asoghik ( hy, Ստեփանոս Ասողիկ), also known as Stepanos Taronetsi ( hy, Ստեփանոս Տարոնեցի), was an Armenian historian of the 11th century. His dates are unknown but he came from Taron and earned the nickname ...
(10th-11th century) who dates the event to year 444 of the
Armenian calendar
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
. This would place the event between the dates of 23 March, 995 (at the earliest) to 24 March, 996 (at the latest). According to Asoghik, all the buildings in the affected areas collapsed at the same time.
The same earthquake is described by the historian
Ibn Taghribirdi
Jamal al-Din Yusuf bin al-Amir Sayf al-Din Taghribirdi ( ar, جمال الدين يوسف بن الأمير سيف الدين تغري بردي), or Abū al-Maḥāsin Yūsuf ibn Taghrī-Birdī, or Ibn Taghribirdi (2 February 1411— 5 June 1470; ...
(15th century), who dates the event to
Hijri year
The Hijri year ( ar, سَنة هِجْريّة) or era ( ''at-taqwīm al-hijrī'') is the era used in the Islamic lunar calendar. It begins its count from the Islamic New Year in which Muhammad and his followers migrated from Mecca to Yathr ...
385. This would place the event between 4 February, 995 (at the earliest) and 21 January, 996 (at the latest). According to his description, strong earthquakes caused "the world to shake", and many people died in the ruins.
Balu was later known as
Palu, Elazığ
Palu ( ku, Palo) is a town of Elazığ Province of Turkey. It is the seat of Palu District.[ ...]
, and still exists. Palnatun perhaps corresponds to Palin. The districts of Cop'k, Xorjean, and Xasteang bordered each other. Their location was the area between the modern towns of
Erzincan
Erzincan (; ku, Erzîngan), historically Yerznka ( hy, Երզնկա), is the capital of Erzincan Province in Eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The ...
and
Diyarbakır
Diyarbakır (; ; ; ) is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province.
Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, ...
.
References
Sources
*
{{Earthquake-stub
995
10th-century earthquakes
10th century in Armenia
History of Elazığ Province