If the Maunder period included a Nemesis butt kicking and a major reset, what can really be said about about the veracity of the narrative? Where did it come from? How traumatized would humanity have been? Who survived? Who were the chroniclers and where did they get their information? Why are so many archives of the past conveniently lost or hidden? The Lizzie’s have always been good at acting as gods and lending a hand when it comes time to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off.
I would say pretty traumatised and for some time, repeatedly. I don't profess to know when it happened or what it is called but I take little hints from what the C's said about earth taking a while to settle and the flooded buildings being localised and centuries added over two increments. It is interesting if all these events were taking place over a couple of centuries, repeatedly, alongside localised plagues and localised wars. Some records are available, however accurate or not, that point to a prolonged time of trauma and affliction by the end of which fanciful architecture may not have been a priority.
My interest has been in the 13th and 14th C as the possible timing:
The
1202 Syria earthquake struck at about dawn on 20 May 1202 (598 AH) with an epicenter in southwestern
Syria. The earthquake is estimated to have killed around 30,000 people. It was felt over an extensive area, from
Sicily to
Mesopotamia and
Anatolia to
upper Egypt, mostly affecting the Ayyubid Sultanate and the
Kingdom of Jerusalem. The cities of
Tyre,
Acre and
Nablus were heavily damaged. A magnitude of
Ms 7.6 has been estimated with damage up to XI on the
Mercalli intensity scale.
A large earthquake or series of earthquakes is described in many written sources during the period 1201–1202 (597–598
AH). It is unclear as to whether they refer to a single mainshock with several large
aftershocks or more than one unrelated earthquake. Given the rarity of such large events in this area it has been considered more likely that the reports all refer to the same mainshock.
[1] Other workers have recognised two separate events, the earlier (Ms 7.5) on 6 June 1201 and the latter (Ms 6.8) on 20 May 1202, occurring on two different (but contiguous) segments of the
Dead Sea Transform.
The
tsunami probably associated with this event was observed in eastern Cyprus and along the Syrian and Lebanese coasts.
Although a figure of 1,100,000 deaths is often quoted for this earthquake, it includes all deaths for the year in question, including those from the famine and subsequent epidemics caused by the failure of the Nile flood that year.
The
1222 Brescia earthquake occurred on Christmas Day in the year 1222.
[3] The chronicler
Salimbene de Adam records that it was so powerful that the inhabitants of
Brescia left their city
en masse and camped outside, so that the falling buildings would not crush them
The estimated magnitude for this event is 7.0–7.5 with a maximum estimated felt intensity of IX (
Violent).
The sea retreated from the harbour but returned and flooded the town. A church is said to have fallen, burying the bishop and his congregation. Monks of the
Franciscan order abandoned their church in Paphos after the earthquake.
[5] The castle of
Saranta Kolones, built only 30 years earlier overlooking the harbour, was destroyed by the earthquake. It was never rebuilt, as it was no longer needed to protect the port, which had dried up.
[6][7] The earthquake permanently changed Paphos, rendering the harbour unusable, and moving the shoreline seawards; it no longer had a protected anchorage.
On 11 September 1275, an earthquake struck the south of
Great Britain. The epicentre is unknown, although it may have been in the
Portsmouth/
Chichester area on the south coast of England
[1] or in
Glamorgan, Wales.
[2] The earthquake is known for causing the destruction of St Michael's Church on
Glastonbury Tor in
Somerset.
The
epicentre of the earthquake is unknown.
[4] Despite contemporary reports that assume the damage at Glastonbury Tor prove a
Somersetepicentre,
[10] it is unlikely that the epicentre was in the county,
A possible alternative epicentre is in
South Wales. Edward Gamage, the rector in
St Athan,
Glamorgan, described an earthquake causing immense damage to Glamorgan and Somerset. Gamage, an antiquarian in the 18th century, wrote a history of the
Strandling family of
Bristol where he described the earthquake as occurring in the time of Sir John Strandling, which is probably the same as the 1275 event. This suggests an epicentre closer to
Swansea and implies a magnitude of 6
M
The
1290 Zhili earthquake occurred on 27 September with an
epicenter near
Ningcheng,
Zhongshu Sheng (
Zhili),
Yuan China. This region is today administered as part of
Inner Mongolia,
China. The
earthquake had an estimated
surface wave magnitude of 6.8 and a maximum felt intensity of IX (
Violent) on the
Mercalli intensity scale. One estimate places the death toll at 7,270, while another has it at 100,000.
The earthquake destroyed 480 storehouses and countless houses in Ningcheng. Changping,
Hejian,
Renqiu,
Xiongxian,
Baoding,
Yixian and
Baixiang County were also affected.
[1] It severely damaged the
Fengguo Temple in Yixian.
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.
The
1293 Kamakura earthquake in Japan occurred at about 06:00 local time on 27 May 1293.
[2] It had an estimated
magnitude of 7.1–7.5
[3] and triggered a
tsunami. The estimated death toll was 23,024.
[1] It occurred during the
Kamakura period, and the city of
Kamakura was seriously damaged.
It has been suggested that the reference to a large tsunami may be incorrect,
[4] although a
tsunami deposithas been found that is consistent with this age.
The
1303 Crete earthquake occurred at about dawn on 8 August. It had an estimated magnitude of about 8, a maximum intensity of IX (
Violent) on the
Mercalli intensity scale, and triggered a major
tsunami that caused severe damage and loss of life on
Crete and at
Alexandria. It badly damaged the
Lighthouse of Alexandria.
The 1303
Hongdong earthquake occurred in
Yuan dynasty of the
Mongol Empire, on September 25. The shock was estimated to have a moment magnitude of 7.6 and it had a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (
Extreme). This was one of the most deadly
earthquakes in China, in turn making it one of the top
disasters in China by death toll.
The
1343 tsunami struck the
Tyrrhenian Sea and
Bay of Naples on 25 November 1343. Underground shocks were felt in
Naples and caused significant damage and loss of lives.
[1] Of major note was a
tsunamicreated by the earthquake which destroyed many ships in Naples and destroyed many ports along the
Amalfi Coast including
Amalfi itself. The effects of the tsunami were observed by the poet
Petrarch, whose ship was forced to return to port, and recorded in the fifth book of his
Epistolae familiares.
[2] A 2019 study attributes the event to a massive submarine landslide (possibly greater than 1 km3), caused by flank collapse of the
Stromboli volcano.
The
1348 Friuli earthquake,
centered in the
South Alpine region of
Friuli, was felt across Europe on 25 January. The
earthquake hit in the same year that the
Great Plague ravaged Italy.
[2] According to contemporary sources, it caused considerable damage to structures; churches and houses collapsed, villages were destroyed and foul odors emanated from the earth
On 9 September 1349, an earthquake sequence began in
Italy's
Apennine Mountains that severely affected the regions of
Molise,
Latium and
Abruzzo. Probably four moderate-large earthquakes
[2]devastated towns and villages across the central
Italian Peninsula, with damage even reported in
Rome. These earthquakes originated from the
Apennine fold and thrust belt fault network, with the first and most destructive shock's epicenter originating from the north-west
Campania region.
Paleoseismological data gathered from scarping, fault length, and collapsed sections of Venafro's Roman aqueduct indicates the epicenter of the main shock was likely along the Aquae Iuliae fault.
[1] The fault suspected of causing this earthquake occurred on the Aqua Iuliae fault along the Molise-Campania border.
The
1361 Shōhei earthquake (
Japanese: 正平地震) was a major
earthquake that occurred on August 3, 1361 (
Gregorian calendar) in
Japan.
[1] It is believed that this quake was one of the
Nankai earthquakes. The
magnitude was 8.4
Ms (
Richter Scale Magnitude was 8.2 - 8.5
[1]) and it triggered a
tsunami
The
1382 Dover Straits earthquake occurred at 15:00 on 21 May. It had an estimated magnitude of 6.0
Ms and a maximum felt intensity of VII–VIII on the
Mercalli intensity scale.
[3] Based on contemporary reports of damage, the
epicentre is thought to have been in the
Strait of Dover. The
earthquake caused widespread damage in south-eastern England and in the
Low Countries. The earthquake interrupted a
synod in London that convened in part to examine the religious writings of
John Wycliffe, which became known as the
Earthquake Synod.
The
1356 Basel earthquake is the most significant
seismological event to have occurred in
Central Europe in
recorded history[1] and had a
moment magnitude in the range of 6.0–7.1.
[2] This earthquake, which occurred on 18 October 1356, is also known as the
Sankt-Lukas-Tag Erdbeben[3] (English: Earthquake of Saint Luke), as 18 October is the
feast day of Saint
Luke the Evangelist.
The
earthquake destroyed the city of
Basel, Switzerland, near the southern end of the
Upper Rhine Graben, and caused much destruction in a vast region extending from
Paris to
Prague.
[1] Though major earthquakes are common at the seismically active edges of tectonic plates in Turkey, Greece, and Italy,
intraplate earthquakesare rare events in Central Europe. According to the
Swiss Seismological Service, of more than 10,000 earthquakes in Switzerland over the past 800 years, only half a dozen of them have registered more than 6.0 on the
Richter scale.
The
1420 Caldera earthquake shook the southern portion of
Atacama Desert in the early morning of August 31, 1420 and caused
tsunamis in Chile as well as
Hawaii and the towns of
Japan. The earthquake is thought to have had a size of 8.8–9.4
Mw.
[1][2] Historical records of the tsunami exist for the Japanese harbours of
Kawarago and
Aiga where confused residents saw the water recede in the morning of September 1,
[1] without any sign of an earthquake.
[3] In Chile, rockfalls occurred along the coast as well, producing blocks of up to 40 tons that are now found inland.
[1] This is also consistent with the identification of a possible
tsunami deposit in
Mejillones Bay that has been dated to the range 1409 to 1449.
[4][5]Deposits found by coring of recent sediments in a wetland near
Tongoy Bay have also been linked to the 1420 tsunami.
The
Catalan earthquake of 2 February 1428, known in
Catalan as the
terratrèmol de la candelerabecause it took place during
Candlemas, struck the
Principality of Catalonia, especially
Roussillon, with an
epicentre near
Camprodon. The
earthquake was one of a series of related seismic events that shook
Catalonia in a single year. Beginning on 23 February 1427, tremors were felt in March, April, 15 May at
Olot,
[3] June, and December. They caused relatively minor visible damage to property, notably to the
monastery of Amer; but they probably caused severe weakening of building infrastructure. This would account for the massive and widespread destruction that accompanied the subsequent 1428 quake.
It is estimated that hundreds of people were killed in the disaster: two hundred are estimated at Camprodon, one to three hundred at
Puigcerdà (due to the collapse of the church), twenty to thirty at Barcelona (in Santa Maria del Mar), and almost the entire population of Queralbs. The fallout lasted well over a year. The quake was probably the worst in the history of the
Pyrenees,[
citation needed] though the first recorded only occurred in 1373. It remains to this day a point of reference for the study of seismic risk.
On December 5,
1456, the largest earthquake to occur on the
Italian Peninsula struck the
Kingdom of Naples. The earthquake had an estimated
moment magnitude of Mw 7.19–7.4, and was centred near the town of
Pontelandolfo in the present-day
Province of Benevento, southern Italy. Earning a level of XI (
Extreme) on the
Modified Mercalli intensity scale, the earthquake caused widespread destruction in central and southern Italy. Estimates of the death toll range greatly with as many as 70,000 deaths reported. It was followed by two strong Mw 7.0 and 6.0 earthquakes to the north on December 30. The earthquake sequence is considered the largest in Italian history, and one of the most studied.
Complete destruction occurred in a zone measuring 6,000 km2(2,300 sq mi). Whereas the total area affected was 18,000 km2 (6,900 sq mi).
[12] The area of devastation was unusually large compared to most earthquakes in Italy; thought to be caused by the occurrence of multiple ruptures.
A mail dated December 18 reported a total death toll of 70,000.
Antonio da Trezzo estimated 30,000 deaths while a figure of 60,000 was reported by
Jacopo Piccolomini-Ammannati. Far smaller figures were reported by Matteo Dell'Aquila and Giannozzo Manetti at 7,000 and 27,000, respectively. More than 50 percent of residents in Apice, Ariano Irpino, Bojano, Isernia, and Paduli perished.
On 27 November
1461, a powerful
earthquake and series of aftershocks struck
Italy's
Abruzzo region along the
Aterno River. The tremors caused widespread damage to Abruzzo's capital,
L'Aquila, and the surrounding villages. At least 80 people are recorded to have died and numerous people were injured by the earthquakes.
[3] The quakes also caused major, permanent damage to religious sites and changed politics for L'Aquila and the Abruzzo region.
Aftershocks continued very frequently into mid-December and proved ruinous for the region. Around 20:00 on 17 December another strong aftershock collapsed more houses in L'Aquila, leaving more residents homeless and fearful of further collapses.
[4]
Quakes continued to plague the
Abruzzo region into March 1462,
[5] causing much panic and paranoia among the population. Many residents refused to return to their unstable homes because of the frequent tremors, opting to transfer their tents from the countryside into town squares to avoid collapsing masonry.
The
1475 Tenochtitlan earthquake (9 Cane of the
Aztec calendar) was an
earthquake that occurred in Ancient
Mexico-Tenochtitlan (current
Mexico City), during the reign of
Tlatoani Axayacatl. Because it happened during
Pre-Hispanic times, little is known about this earthquake, but it is considered to be perhaps the most significant of those dates.
[1][2]
The only record appears in the
Aubin Codex, and thanks to Spanish franciscan friar
Juan de Torquemada who reported in his
book,
Monarquia Indiana according to the codex, that the earthquake "Was so strong that not only did many houses fall, but the mountains and mountains in many places they crumbled and fell apart". The
Mexicas considered the earthquake as the
prophecy of the end of their
Empire.
This earthquake left all the houses in the
Valley of Mexico destroyed and caused considerable damage to the
palaces and
teocallis in the area. Several
chinampas sank, the
hills were washed away, crumbled and disintegrated, cracks were created in the earth and caused a
tsunami in
Lake Texcoco.
SIMMSA geologists have carried out various studies which have determined that the possible epicenter of this earthquake would be in the current
Cuajimalpa, due to local faults and with an approximate magnitude of 7.5 on the
Richter scale.
The
1481 Rhodes earthquake occurred at 3:00 in the morning on 3 May. It triggered a small
tsunami, which caused local flooding. There were an estimated 30,000 fatalities. It was the largest of a series of
earthquakes that affected
Rhodes, starting on 15 March 1481, continuing until January 1482.
The tsunami caused a large ship to break free from its moorings. It (or another ship) later sank with loss of all its crew after running onto a reef.
[6] There were an estimated 30,000 fatalities.
The
1491 Cyprus earthquake occurred on 24 April 1491, and resulted in extensive damage across the island of
Cyprus and some limited damage in the
Levant.
According to the Cyprus Geological Survey Department, the earthquake had a magnitude of 7.0 on the
Richter scale and an intensity of VIII-IX on the
Mercalli scale
According to the Cyprus Geological Survey Department, the earthquake had a magnitude of 7.0 on the
Richter scale and an intensity of VIII-IX on the
Mercalli scale
The earthquake caused widespread damage particularly along the eastern coast of Cyprus as well as the Mesaoria plain, including the capital city of
Nicosia. In 'badly-built' city of Nicosia, chroniclers state that 4,000 buildings were destroyed during the earthquake.
The
1498 Meiō earthquake (明応地震 Meiō Jishin) occurred off the coast of
Nankaidō, Japan, at about 08:00 local time
[3] on 20 September 1498.
[1] It had a magnitude estimated at 8.6
Ms[1] and triggered a large
tsunami. The death toll associated with this event is uncertain, but between 5,000 and 41,000 casualties were reported.
[2] The tsunami caused by the Meiō Nankaidō earthquake washed away the building housing the statue of the
Great Buddha at
Kōtoku-in in
Kamakura, although the statue itself remained intact.
There is also evidence of severe shaking from records of
ground liquefaction in the
Nankai area.
[9] Tsunami deposits attributed to this earthquake have been described from the coastal plains around the
Sagami Trough and the
Izu Peninsula.
Uplift of the seafloor of up to 4 m has been estimated for this earthquake, with a much smaller subsidence near the coast.
[11] Lake Hamana became a
brackish lake because the tsunami broke through low-lying land between the lake and the
Pacific Ocean (
Enshū Nada); this formed a channel to the sea, which still remains today.
The
Haowhenua (
Māori for 'land swallower') earthquake was a large earthquake that occurred around 1460 AD causing uplift to parts of
Wellington, New Zealand.
In his 1923 work
Miramar Island and its History,
Elsdon Best recounted Māori stories handed down through generations about early settlement in Wellington and the uplifting of
Miramar. The present entrance to Wellington Harbour was called Te Au-a-Tane and the western channel (now the Rongotai isthmus) was called Te-Awa-a-Taia. Between the two channels sat the island of Motu-Kairangi (present day
Miramar Peninsula). Elsdon stated:
I obtained from Maori sources a story to the effect that, in the time of Te Ao-haere-tahi, who flourished eighteen generations ago, a violent earthquake-shock so lifted these lands that the Awa-a-Taia channel became dry, and Motu-kairangi a part of the mainland. We have no means of verifying such oral traditions, but it may be correct, and the shock may have been the cause of the raised beaches that form so marked and interesting a feature of the adjacent coast-line. The earthquake referred to, if it occurred in the time of Te Ao-haere-tahi, must have occurred in the fifteenth century.
[1]
A study published in 2015 showed evidence of two large earthquakes on the southern
Hikurangi Margin, the area where the Pacific
tectonic plate is pushed under the Australian plate. The later of these earthquakes happened between 1430 and 1480 AD and could be the Haowhenua earthquake of Māori oral history, which described land uplift in Wellington.
[2] The earthquake probably also caused a
tsunami: tsunami deposits dating from the 15th century have been found at many locations around the top of the South Island and up to Okupe Lagoon on
Kapiti Island,
[2] and other research links evidence of a huge tsunami around 1450 AD with the Haowhenua earthquake.
[3] Shells and a boulder beach found above current sea level around the Miramar Peninsula and around
Turakirae Head offer supporting evidence of a large earthquake in the 15th century.
Certainly, a lot of this is localised to some degree but if you add up the parts to make a whole and stretch it over time, it looks pretty big.
