Dehkharghan-Tabriz Earthquake of 05 February 1641, Ms 6.8
On Friday 5th February 1641, there was suddenly and quite unexpectedly a terrible earthquake at Tabriz, accompanied by violent aftershocks. The heavy soil vacillated above its solid base, like a disturbed leaf, or like water shaken in a vase. There was a terrible rumbling within the depths of the earth and then the earthquake, which shook the buildings of the town and caused them to collapse and disintegrate. A large and vast building of marvellous height, situated at the centre of the city, a souvenir of the kings of ancient times, fell in the twinkling of an eye, and covered the earth with debris. Neither did the earthquake spare the famous building of Usta Shagerd, which collapsed on a number of camels and other animals sheltering inside against the cold and snow of winter. This is not all. The domes and minarets of mosques reaching towards the sky, to dizzy heights, collapsed, shattered and crumbled into pieces, which fell to the ground and burst into fragments. The roof of the famous and superb building of Shamkazan, situated at some distance from the town, beside the river Shur collapsed, leaving only the surrounding walls, which shook on their foundations and split in four directions, forming the four stumps still visible today. As for the houses, villas, baths and caravansera, how can we enumerate the ruins, the number of men and animals, furniture and personal effects, goods and wealth, entombed in the bosom of the earth! Only after twenty or thirty days of searching and clearing the rubble could the corpses and treasures be recovered, and then with considerable difficulty. If the town of Tabriz had much to suffer from the earthquake, the loss of men and animals, buildings destroyed, it was even worse in neighbouring areas, such as Khosrowshah, Osku and in the village of Dehkharghan. The thick surface-crust of the earth was split open following the terrible aftershock, creating fresh springs with black water in whose flow it was reflected: After three days there was another terrible aftershock and the waters disappeared, although it produced some small springs and accumulations of black water like the preceding shock. These waters existed for the duration of the aftershock and disappeared as soon as it had finished. They say that a shepherd was driving his sheep in front of him one day, when, in a certain place, during an aftershock, the crust of the earth cracked and formed an abyss, by which the shepherd and part of his flock were engulfed alive, none of them reappearing. An entire village, built in the fold of a rocky mountain, was covered and disappeared completely, an aftershock having dislodged the solid blocks of rock, which shattered, crumbled and enveloped it with a bed of stones and debris.
Reference:
- Berberian, M. and Arshad, S., (1976), ” On the evidence of the youngest activity of the north tabriz fault and the seismicity of Tabriz city”, Geol. Surv. Iran, 39, 397-418.