The 1956 Chim earthquake was a destructive multiple-shock event that occurred on March 16 in
Lebanon
Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
along a strand of the
Dead Sea Transform (DST) fault system. The epicenter was located in the south of Lebanon in the
Chouf District
Chouf (also spelled Shouf, Shuf or Chuf; ) is a historic region of Lebanon, as well as an administrative district in the governorate ( muhafazat) of Mount Lebanon.
Geography
Located south-east of Beirut, the region comprises a narrow coastal stri ...
. Six thousand homes were destroyed and another 17,000 were damaged. The number of persons killed was 136.
Tectonic setting
The DST is a long transform fault that runs in a mostly north–south direction from the northern end of the
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
along the
Jordan Rift Valley
The Jordan Rift Valley, also Jordan Valley ( ''Bīqʿāt haYardēn'', Al-Ghor or Al-Ghawr), is an elongated endorheic basin located in modern-day Israel, Jordan and the West Bank, Palestine. This geographic region includes the entire length o ...
to the
Taurus Mountains
The Taurus Mountains (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar,'' Greek language, Greek'':'' Ταύρος) are a mountain range, mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coastal reg ...
complex in southern Turkey. The left-lateral fault zone marks the boundary of the
Arabian plate and the Sinai-Levantine block and consists of multiple parallel faults. As the fault moves through Lebanon and Syria the fault trace follows a restraining bend and splits into several strands that include the Serghaya, Rachaya, and Roum faults, as well as the prominent Yammouneh fault.
Earthquake
The Roum fault runs for a length of between the Hula basin the
Awali river
The Awali ( / ALA-LC: ''Nahr al-Awalī'', ancient Bostrenus / Bostrenos) is a perennial river flowing in Southern Lebanon. In ancient times it was known as Asclepius River. The long Awali originates from the Barouk mountain at a height of and ...
and is the westernmost strand of the fault system in that area. A
paleoseismic
Paleoseismology is the study of ancient earthquakes using geologic evidence, such as geologic sediments and rocks. It is used to supplement seismic monitoring to calculate seismic hazard. Paleoseismology is usually restricted to geologic regim ...
trench investigation revealed that it may have been the source of the twin-shock event.
The twin shocks were separated by less than fifteen minutes with the first event occurring at 19:32 and the second event at 19:43 hours.
[ The initial shock was estimated to measure ( = 5.3) and the second event was rated ( = 5.5).
]
See also
*List of earthquakes in 1956
This is a list of earthquakes in 1956. Only magnitude 6.0 or greater earthquakes appear on the list. Lower magnitude events are included if they have caused death, injury or damage. Events which occurred in remote areas will be excluded from th ...
*List of earthquakes in the Levant
This is a list of earthquakes in the Levant, including earthquakes that either had their epicenter in the Levant or caused significant damage in the region. As it is now, the list is focused on events which affected the territories of modern-d ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1956 Chim earthquake
1956 in Lebanon
1956 earthquakes
March 1956 in Asia
1956 Chim