Earthquakes in Europe in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (284–1550)
Critical catalogue of earthquakes in Europe and Asia Minor from 284 to 1550, compiled by Pierre Alexandre and Dominique Alexandre-Lamotte from original written sources only. For each event: its date, epicentral area and the places where it was felt.
1,607 events · 4,707 places, 4,022 of them on the map
Fake earthquakes and false data on real earthquakes
- Earthquake
- Tsunami
- Geophysical
- Volcano
- Doubtful
- ≥ 300 m≥ 600 m≥ 1,200 m≥ 2,000 m
Events (0)
…
| Date | Epicentral area | Places |
|---|
Notation of dates and places (after the book)
- 1098.10.04/05: one of two consecutive dates (night of 4 to 5 October 1098); 463//475: between two dates, inclusive; 1174\\1184.08.17: one or the other.
- ca.: about; >: after; <: before; 1037.11.02-1038.01: successive tremors between two dates; (2): number of tremors; (z): several tremors, number unknown.
- [S], [A], [H]: text dated in the Seleucid, Armenian or Hijra era; [N]: unknown date, source using the Christmas style.
- Places: [ ] deduced from where the source was written; ?° place of writing uncertain; ?+ felt uncertain; in capitals, a region (not on the map); @ associated with another earthquake.
The catalogue gives no epicentre, only a named epicentral area: the map shows the places where each event was felt, at the coordinates of the book.
The book sets no EMS-98 intensity, too uncertain for these sources: a few earthquakes have three levels (felt, heavily felt or damage, heavy damage) and negative evidence.
Observatory page: event of the same date whose name or epicentre matches a place of the book (191 events).
Coordinates converted from the degrees and minutes of the book; 4 places with inconsistent coordinates in the file are not placed.
Relief: ETOPO1 (NOAA, Amante and Eakins 2009, doi:10.7289/V5C8276M), at 10 arc minutes, in grey above 300, 600, 1,200 and 2,000 m.
Links to AHEAD (European Archive of Historical Earthquake Data, INGV): automatic match by date and place name (or proximity of the AHEAD epicentre, to the day); neither the book nor AHEAD gives this link. 485 earthquakes and 215 fake earthquakes found.
Source and citation
Alexandre P., Alexandre-Lamotte D. (2024). Les tremblements de terre en Europe au Moyen Âge et à la Renaissance. Étude critique des sources et catalogue des tremblements de terre. Observatoire royal de Belgique. doi:10.24414/srvz-2k77
Book (PDF, 40 MB)Table of places (Excel)Data set page
Licence CC BY 4.0.