The 1927 Jericho earthquake was a devastating event that shook Mandatory Palestine and Transjordan on July 11 at . The epicenter of the earthquake was in the northern area of the Dead Sea. The cities of Jerusalem, Jericho, Ramla, Tiberias, and Nablus were heavily damaged, and between 285Avni, 1999., p. I in English; Table 2 in Hebrew. and 400 people were estimated to have been killed.The lower number is based on the Mandate government's casualty count, which compiled extensive data on casualties and structures damaged in the earthquake. The higher number is based on a secondary or tertiary source, written many years after the earthquake.
Earthquake Vered and Striem (1977) located the earthquake epicenter to be near the Damya Bridge in the Jordan Valley, and close to the city of Jericho. Later research by Avni (1999), located the epicenter to be around 50 km south of this location in the northern part of the Dead Sea. The latter was approved by Zohar & Marco (2012) and by Zohar at al., 2014.
Effects
Mandatory Palestine
Jerusalem The death toll in Jerusalem included more than 130 people and around 450 were injured. About 300 houses collapsed or were severely damaged to the point of not being usable. The earthquake also caused heavy damage to the domes of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the al-Aqsa Mosque.
The rest of the country The earthquake was especially severe in Nablus where it destroyed around 300 buildings, including the Mosque of Victory and the historic parts of the Great Mosque of Nablus. The death toll in Nablus included more than 150 people and around 250 were injured.
In Jericho, a number of houses collapsed, including several relatively new hotels. In one of the hotels, three female tourists from India were killed.Duff, Douglas V. (1934) Sword for Hire. The Saga of a Modern Free-Companion. John Murray, London. 1st Edition. pp.219–227 Ramla and Tiberias were also heavily damaged.
Emirate of Transjordan The most affected city in Transjordan was Salt in which 80 people were killed. In the rest of Transjordan another 20 people were killed.
See also Dead Sea Transform List of earthquakes in 1927 List of earthquakes in the Levant
Notes and references
Sources
Avni, R.; (1999), 1927 Jericho earthquake - Comprehensive Macroseismic Analysis Based on Contemporary Sources. Theis Submitted to the Senat of Ben-Gurion University of the Nehev, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requierments for the Degree of Ph.D. (in Hebrew, Abstract in English)
Further reading
External links
Jerusalem Hit By Earth Jars – published in the Prescott Evening Courier on July 11, 1927 104 Quake Toll In Holy Land – published in the Youngstown Vindicator on July 12, 1927 – published in the Milwaukee Journal on July 12, 1927 Quake Reports From Palestine Yet Fragmentary – published in Newspapers on July 14, 1927