Analysis of historical sources on earthquakes in
the Crimea
L.I. Ioganson
Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy
of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
Abstract. The results of the archaeoseismological approach
for the Crimean seismic history are considered on the basis of the recent
publications about reconstructed strong seismic events in the XV–XVIII
centuries. The reliability of the source base involved in the seismological
conclusions is analyzed. Restoring the seismic history of the Crimea is
connected with two problems—determination of the undoubted evidence of a strong
earthquake and its dating. The first problem is mostly solved by the careful
field studies (with developed technique) and the involvement of the
representative historical, literary, and folklore material. However dating of
events raises considerable difficulties. The main difficulties and limitations
of the generally progressive research related to both objective and subjective
factors are shown. Objective factors include a large uncertainty in
establishing the chronology of seismic events using not only folklore, but also
historical materials. The formed productive cooperation of historians and
seismologists is complicated by many unresolved issues in the restoration of
historic events in the Crimea, which deprives the seismologists
reliable basis and forcing historians to rely on not always justified
seismological conclusions. Subjective factors are related to the lack of
criticality in the use of sources and hasty conclusions. Herewith the data on
geological and man-made destruction in historical sources are used
insufficiently. Despite the expressed doubts about the reliability of the
chronological dating of earthquakes, the successful application of the archaeoseismological method in Crimea is confirmed by the
establishment of the solid evidences of strong seismicity. Obviously, the
solution of the dating reliability problem is associated with further research
and more complete recovery of the Crimean history.
Keywords: archaeoseismological
approach, earthquake, seismogenic damage, historical
source, earthquake catalogs.
About the
author
IOGANSON Lidia Ivanovna — Leading
Researcher, Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth of the Russian Academy of
Science. 123242, Moscow, ul. Bolshaya Gruzinskaya 10, stroenie 1. E-mail iogan@ifz.ru
Cite this article as: Ioganson L.I. Analysis of historical sources on earthquakes in the
Crimea, Voprosy Inzhenernoi
Seismologii (Problems of Engineering Seismology),
2017, Vol. 44, No. 3, pp. 25–40. DOI: 10.21455/VIS2017.3-2 [in
Russian].
English translation of the article will be published
in Seismic Instruments, ISSN: 0747-9239
(Print) 1934-7871 (Online), https://link.springer.com/journal/11990), 2018,
Volume 54, Issue 3.