Distinguishing damages from two earthquakes —Archaeoseismology of a Crusader castle (Al-Marqab citadel, Syria)

Kázmér, Miklós and Major, Balázs (2010) Distinguishing damages from two earthquakes —Archaeoseismology of a Crusader castle (Al-Marqab citadel, Syria). In: Ancient Earthquakes. Geological Society of America Special Paper (471). Geological Society of America, Boulder, CO, pp. 185-198.

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Abstract

Damages from two major earthquakes are identified in medieval Al-Marqab citadel (Latin: Margat) in coastal Syria. Built by the Order of St. John (Hospitallers) in the twelfth–thirteenth centuries, the hilltop fortification has masonry walls made with and without mortar, using the opus caementum technology (Roman concrete). V-shaped and U-shaped failures, single-corner and symmetrical corner collapses, and in-plane shifts of ashlar masonry walls are identified and dated by historical and archaeological methods. The azimuth of displacement is NE-SW for the older damages of the Crusader period (A.D. 1170–1285), possibly related to the A.D. 1202 earthquake. A later, NW-SE displacement occurred during the Muslim period (post- 1285). The 1202 earthquake produced at least VIII intensity on the MSK scale at Al-Marqab, which is higher than previously considered.

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