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.