The 115 Antioch earthquake occurred on 13 December 115 AD. It had an estimated magnitude of 7.5 on the surface wave magnitude scale and an estimated maximum intensity of XI (''Extreme'') on the

Mercalli intensity scale The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS), developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the ef ...

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

and surrounding areas were devastated with a great loss of life and property. It triggered a local tsunami that badly damaged the harbour at

Caesarea Maritima Caesarea Maritima (; Greek: ''Parálios Kaisáreia''), formerly Strato's Tower, also known as Caesarea Palestinae, was an ancient city in the Sharon plain on the coast of the Mediterranean, now in ruins and included in an Israeli national pa ...

. The Roman Emperor

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

was caught in the earthquake, as was his successor

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania ...

. Although the

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...

Marcus Pedo Vergilianus Marcus Pedo Vergilianus was consul at the beginning of AD 115, during the reign of Trajan. He died in an earthquake toward the end of that year. Career Vergilianus was a Roman senator early in the second century. In the year 115, he was consul ...

was killed, they escaped with only slight injuries and later began a program to rebuild the city.

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

, ''Roman History'
68,24–25
/ref>

Tectonic setting

The site of Antioch lies close to the complex

triple junction A triple junction is the point where the boundaries of three tectonic plates meet. At the triple junction each of the three boundaries will be one of three types – a ridge (R), trench (T) or transform fault (F) – and triple junctions can b ...

between the northern end of the

Dead Sea Transform The Dead Sea Transform (DST) fault system, also sometimes referred to as the Dead Sea Rift, is a series of faults that run from the Maras Triple Junction (a junction with the East Anatolian Fault in southeastern Turkey) to the northern end of the ...

, the mainly transform boundary between the

African Plate The African Plate is a major tectonic plate that includes much of the continent of Africa (except for its easternmost part) and the adjacent oceanic crust to the west and south. It is bounded by the North American Plate and South American Plate ...

and the

Arabian Plate The Arabian Plate is a minor tectonic plate in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres. It is one of the three continental plates (along with the African and the Indian Plates) that have been moving northward in geological history and colliding ...

, the southwestern end of the East Anatolian Fault, the mainly transform boundary between the

Anatolian Plate The Anatolian Plate is a continental tectonic plate comprising most of the Anatolia (Asia Minor) peninsula (and the country of Turkey). To the east, the East Anatolian Fault, a left lateral transform fault, forms a boundary with the Arabian Pl ...

and the Arabian Plate, and the northeastern end of the Cyprus Arc, the boundary between the Anatolian and African Plates. The city lies on the Antakya Basin, part of the Amik Basin, filled by Pliocene-to-recent alluvial sediments. The area has been affected by many large earthquakes during the last 2,000 years. The results of trenching over the northern part of the Dead Sea Transform indicate that three major earthquakes have occurred along the Missyaf segment of the fault since about 100 AD, the earliest of which may correlate with the 115 earthquake.

Damage

An account of the earthquake was included by the writer

in his ''Roman History''. He describes Antioch at that time as crowded with soldiers and many civilians that had travelled from all parts of the empire, because Trajan was wintering there. The earthquake began with a loud roaring sound, followed by intense shaking of the ground. Whole trees were thrown into the air, as were many of the inhabitants, causing great injury. Large numbers of people were killed by falling debris, while many others were trapped. The aftershocks that followed the earthquake for several days killed some of the survivors, while others that were trapped died of hunger. Trajan managed to get clear of the house he was staying in by leaving through a window and only suffered minor injuries. Because of the danger from aftershocks, he moved with his retinue to the open

hippodrome The hippodrome ( el, ἱππόδρομος) was an ancient Greek stadium for horse racing and chariot racing. The name is derived from the Greek words ''hippos'' (ἵππος; "horse") and ''dromos'' (δρόμος; "course"). The term is used i ...

. The city of Apamea was also destroyed by the earthquake and

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

suffered significant damage. The tsunami triggered by the earthquake affected the Lebanese coast, particularly at Caeserea and Yavneh. The harbour at Caeserea Maritima was probably destroyed by the tsunami, an interpretation based on the dating of a half metre thick

tsunami deposit A tsunami deposit (the term tsunamiite is also sometimes used) is a sedimentary unit deposited as the result of a tsunami. Such deposits may be left onshore during the inundation phase or offshore during the 'backwash' phase. Such deposits are u ...

found outside the harbour. The origin of the reported death toll of 260,000 is uncertain, as it only appears in catalogues of about the last hundred years.

Aftermath

The restoration of Antioch was started by Trajan but seems to have been completed by Hadrian. Trajan had a copy of the statue of

Tyche Tyche (; Ancient Greek: Τύχη ''Túkhē'', 'Luck', , ; Roman equivalent: Fortuna) was the presiding tutelary deity who governed the fortune and prosperity of a city, its destiny. In Classical Greek mythology, she is the daughter of Aphrod ...

by Eutychides erected at the new theatre, to commemorate the rebuilding of the city. Almost all of the mosaics that have been found in Antioch date from after the earthquake.

References

External links

Casio Dio, ''Roman History'', Book LXVIII, Section 24-25
description of the Antioch earthquake. {{Earthquakes in Turkey 0115 Antioch

110s in the Roman Empire 2nd-century earthquakes Ancient Antioch 2nd-century natural disasters Roman Syria Tsunamis Turkey in the Roman era Earthquakes in the Roman Empire

Tectonic setting

Damage

Aftermath

See also

References

External links