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1269 Cilicia earthquake
Local date	14 May 1269
Local time	First hour of the night
Magnitude	Mw  7.22±0.46
Epicenter	36°56′10″N 36°15′54″E / 36.936°N 36.265°E
Areas affected	Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, Ilkhanate, Principality of Antioch (Modern Turkey, Northwest Syria)
Max. intensity	MMI VIII (Severe)
Casualties	8,000 or over 60,000 dead (est.)

An earthquake occurred northeast of the city of Adana in the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (modern day Turkey) on 14 May 1269 at "the first hour of the night".^[2] Most sources give a death toll of 8,000 in the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia in southern Asia Minor,^[2] but a figure of 60,000 dead was reported by Robert Mallet in 1853 and repeated in many later catalogues.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Tectonic setting

The area occupied by the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia lies close to the boundaries between three tectonic plates, the Arabian plate, the African plate and the Anatolian plate. The movement between these plates is taken up by large fault zones, particularly the Dead Sea Transform and the East Anatolian Fault. At its southwestern end, the East Anatolian Fault (EAF) splits into two main branches, both of which link through to the Cyprus Arc. The northern branch of the EAF itself branches into several segments, some of which, such as the Toprakkale Fault and Düziçi–İskenderun Fault Zone, cross the Çukurova Plain, close to the foot of the Nur Mountains.^[7]

Earthquake

The Kandilli Observatory estimated the moment magnitude (M_w ) at 7.22 ± 0.46. They placed the epicenter about 10 km south of Osmaniye.^[1] In the CFTI5MED Catalogue of strong earthquakes in Italy and in the Mediterranean area, the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) give a similar location for the epicenter but give a lower estimate for the magnitude of 6.4 M_e  (a magnitude derived from seismic intensity, intended to be equivalent to M_w ).^[2]

Damage

Several contemporary sources report that the fortress of Sarvandikar was destroyed, killing those inside. Several castles were also ruined, including those at Delnk'ar, Hamus, Harunye and Hagar Suglan.^[2] The monastery of Ark'akalin (thought to be located near Sis^[8]) was severely damaged, leading to the deaths of priests and monks. Many villages were destroyed across Cilicia, particularly those at the foot of the Nur Mountains. About 8,000 people were said to have died.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Sesetyan, K.; Stucchi, M.; Castelli, V.; Capera, A.A. Gomez (16 February 2023). "Kahramanmaraş – Gaziantep Türkiye M7.7 Earthquake, 6 February 2023 (04:17 GMT+03:00) Large historical earthquakes of the earthquake-affected region: a preliminary report" (PDF). Boğaziçi University Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute Department of Earthquake Engineering. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Guidoboni, E.; Comastri, A. (2005). "1269 04 17 , 17:00 Cilicia (Turkey)".
^ Ganse, Robert A. and Nelson, John B. (1981) Catalog of Significant Earthquakes 2000 BC – 1979 Including Quantitative Casualties and Damage (NOAA/NGDC Report SE-27), World Data Center A for Solid Earth Geophysics, U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Environmental Data and Information Service, Boulder, Colorado, OCLC 7695380
^ Walford, Cornelius (1879) The famines of the world: past and present London, page 55, OCLC 38724391
^ Lomnitz, Cinna (1974) Global Tectonics and Earthquake Risk Elsevier Scientific Pub. Co., Amsterdam, ISBN 0-444-41076-7
^ National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. (1972). "Significant Earthquake Information". NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
^ Duman, T.Y.; Emre, Ö (2013). "The East Anatolian Fault: geometry, segmentation and jog characteristics". In Robertson, A.H.F.; Parlak, O; Ünlügenç, U.C. (eds.). Geological Development of Anatolia and the Easternmost Mediterranean Region. Special Publications. London: Geological Society. doi:10.1144/SP372.14. ISBN 9781862393530. S2CID 129225180.
^ Edwards, R.W. (1993). "Settlements and toponymy in Armenian Cilicia". Revue des Études arméniennes. 24: 184–249. doi:10.2143/REA.24.0.2017117.