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Completed Translation ———— → 1356 Basel earthquake ———— (more info)  Translation status: Stage 4 : Completed Translation (How-to)  Comment: French article is short but well-referenced. No English article appears to exist, though the earthquake is mentioned at Basel and List of earthquakes.  Requested by: Carcharoth 00:35, 22 December 2006 (UTC)  Interest of the translation: One of the larger known earthquakes before the 20th century, evidence of which is still seen today in Basel (cracks in walls of Basel Cathedral). Interesting bits of history and science, and lots has been written about it (2006 was the 650th anniversary of the earthquake). See this Google search for more information.  Translator(s): User:Jonolumb  Translation progress:   100%  Permanent link original-language version: 22/12/2006  Proofreader(s): Iamvered  Proofreading progress:   100%   Join this translation   ————   Update this information (instructions)

The Basel earthquake of 1356 is the most significant historic seismological event to have occurred in Central Europe to date. It destroyed the town of Basel (Switzerland) on 18 October 1356 and caused much destruction in a vast region extending into France and Germany.

The epicentre was actually located in Germany, in the Upper Rhine valley (Rhine rift) between Waldkirch and St. Peter in Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald.

The earthquake was felt by people far away, in Zürich, Konstanz and even as far as Ile-de-France). The maximum seismic intensity registered on the MSK scale was of IX-X. The macroseismic map was established notably on the basis of damages reported by the region's 30 to 40 castles . From this macroseismic data, the Mw magnitude of the earthquake was estimated at around 6.2.

The earthquake took place during the evening at around 22:00 (local time) and numerous aftershock's followed on the night between the 18th and 19th of October. The town experienced a second, very violent shock in the middle of the night. The town within the ramparts was destroyed by a fire as the wooden houses caught fire when torches and candles fell to the floor. The seismic crisis lasted a year. The number of deaths is estimated at 300 people, only counting those in the town of Basel.

The modelling of the macroseismic data suggests that the earthquake's source was E-W orientated, a direction corresponding with the overlapping faults on the Jura Front. On the other hand, recent paleoseismologic studies attribute instead the cause of this earthquake to a normal fault, NNE-SSW orientated and south of the town. The significant magnitude of the event suggests a possible extension of this fault under the town itself.

This earthquake is also known as the 'Séisme de la Saint Luc', as 18 October is the feast day of Luke the Evangelist.

Sources

1. Mayer-Rosa D. et B. Cadiot (1979). A review of the 1356 Basel earthquake: basic data, Tectonophysics, 53, pp 325-333
2. ^ Lambert J., Winter T., Dewez T. J. B. et P. Sabourault (2005). New hypotheses on the maximum damage area of the 1356 Basel earthquake (Switzerland), Quaternary Science Reviews, 24 , pp 383-401
3. Von Waltenkofen K. (1357). Alphabetum Narrationum.
4. Meyer, B., Lacassin, R., Brulhet, J., Mouroux, B., 1994. The Basel 1356 earthquake: which fault produced it? Terra Nova 6, 54–63
5. Meghraoui M., Delouis B., Ferry M., Giardini D., Huggenberger P., Spottke I. et M. Granet (2001). Active Normal Faulting in the Upper Rhine Graben and Paleoseismic Identification of the 1356 Basel Earthquake. Science, 293, pp 2070-2073. doi: 10.1126/science.1010618

See Also

1356 Basel earthquake