Dubrovnik earthquake in 1667
| Dubrovnik earthquake | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Coordinates | 42 ° 39 '43 " N , 18 ° 5' 28" E | ||
| date | April 6, 1667 | ||
| Time | about 8:45 a.m. local time | ||
| intensity | IX – X on the EMS scale | ||
| Magnitude | 7.1 M W | ||
| epicenter | Dubrovnik | ||
| country | Republic of Ragusa | ||
| dead | 2000-4000 | ||
The great earthquake in Dubrovnik on April 6, 1667 was the strongest ever documented earthquake on the Dalmatian coast . It destroyed the city of Dubrovnik , which was then the capital of the Republic of Ragusa under the name Ragusa .
Tectonic background
Due to the proximity to the plate boundary between the Eurasian and African plates , there were repeated earthquakes in the region. The earliest earthquake recorded in the earthquake catalog of the Institute of Geophysics of the University of Zagreb dates back to 373 BC. BC and had its epicenter near today's city. There have been reports of strong earthquakes in 376, 1471, 1482, 1504, 1516, and 1520 that caused damage to the city.
The earthquake
At around 8:45 a.m., the earthquake shook the Dalmatian coast. Its epicenter was assumed for a long time in the sea a few kilometers from the city, according to recent seismological analyzes it was only a few hundred meters from the city center. The focal depth was probably 10-12 kilometers. The tremors lasted only a few seconds, but were perceived in the urban area with an intensity of IX ° to X ° according to EMS-98 . The quake was also clearly felt in numerous other cities, in Kotor the intensity reached IX °, in Bar VII – VIII ° and in Venice and Naples the quake was still noticeable with III – IV °. Based on the experience and damage reports handed down, a magnitude of the earthquake of 7.06 M w and an extension of the focus of about 30 kilometers are assumed.
The main quake was preceded by at least two rather weak foreshocks and numerous aftershocks occurred over the course of weeks.
Effects
The worst damage occurred in Ragusa (Dubrovnik). Boulders detached themselves from the local mountain Srđ , rolled into the city and destroyed everything in their path. The sea withdrew from the harbor several times like a tsunami and returned powerfully. Cracks formed in the ground and springs dried up. Blowing dust darkened the sky. Strong winds fanned flames in fire pits and bakeries so that a fire quickly spread across the whole city, which could not be extinguished for days. Due to the quake and the city fire , the place within the relatively undamaged city wall was reduced to a collection of smoking ruins. Around three quarters of the city's public buildings were destroyed, and the Dubrovnik Cathedral and most of the city's churches were razed to the ground. The suburbs Gruž and Rijeka Dubrovačka , which now belong to the city , were also completely destroyed. Many of the survivors fled the city to the surrounding areas and the nearby islands. Before the earthquake, the city had about 30,000 inhabitants, in the days after the quake it was only half. The number of deaths has never been precisely determined, but it is believed that around 2,000 to 4,000 people lost their lives, including the Rector of the Republic of Ragusa. The republic kept the number of victims secret in order to hide the extent of the weakening of the state from its opponents, the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice . The disaster also weakened the institutions of the state and the traditional political hierarchy. In the absence of state authorities, the ruins were unrestrainedly plundered. The reconstruction of Dubrovnik was carried out in a strict and simple baroque style .
Serious damage also occurred in Kotor and on the islands of Koločep and Lopud . Other places, forts, churches and monasteries in the region were also damaged. Little is known about the destruction in the then nearby area of the Ottoman Empire, since on the one hand numerous archives there were destroyed by acts of war and on the other hand some Ottoman documents written in Arabic script have not yet been evaluated.
literature
- Snježana Markušić, Ines Ivančić, and Ivica Sović: The 1667 Dubrovnik earthquake - some new Insights. In: Studia Geophysica Et Geodaetica. Volume 61, Issue 3, 2017, pp. 587-600 (English).
- Paola Albini: The Great 1667 Dalmatia Earthquake: An In-Depth Case Study. Springer, Cham / Heidelberg / New York / Dortrecht / London 2015, ISBN 978-3-319-16208-9 (English).
supporting documents
- ↑ Davorka Herak, Marijan Herak: Veliki dubrovački potres 1667. godine. In: pmf.unizg.hr . Retrieved July 2, 2020 (Croatian).