Historical earthquakes that damaged Hierapolis and Laodikeia antique cities and their implications for earthquake potential of Denizli basin in western Turkey

Abstract

Denizli basin is situated at the junction of NW-SE trending Gediz Graben and E-W trending Büyük Menderes Graben in the eastern part of the western Anadolu (Anatolian) extensional province in western Turkey, which has been home to many civilizations during its long history and therefore has ruins of many antique cities and settlements. Most of antique cities were destroyed by strong earthquakes that occurred in ancient times. Strong historical earthquakes in Denizli basin caused heavy damage to antique cities in the region, namely, Hierapolis in Pamukkale, Laodikeia in Denizli city center, colassae in Honaz, Attuda in Babadag and Tripolis in Buldan. A strong earthquake occurred in the early seventh century AD in Lykos (Ç ürüksu) Valley of the Denizli area, heavily damaging the antique cities in the region and causing people to abandon their cities. Recent archaeological excavations in Hierapolis and Laodikeia clearly revealed many relics associated with the early seventh century AD earthquake. For example, the collapse directions of columns and walls are mainly towards the NE or SW. The surface ruptures in the Hierapolis antique city area in the Pamukkale area prove that Pamukkale Fault is the main active fault producing strong earthquakes in the region, and severe damage is induced by earthquakes having a magnitude 6.5 or more. However, the largest earthquake could be up to 7.1 in the Denizli Basin.

The dark colour of the Ploutonion at Hierapolis of Phrygiae (Turkey)

“…Since 1957, when archaeological excavations in the ancient city of Hierapolis were initiated (D’Andria ), relics of historical earthquakes have been abundant (Kumsar et al . ). In particular, the archaeologists reconstructed how the original structure of the Ploutonion collapsed due to an earthquake in the fifth century ad and how the blocks were affected by other earthquakes in the mid‐seventh, 10th to 11th, and mid‐14th centuries (D’Andria et al .…”

“…The ancient city of Hierapolis, instead, was damaged several times by earthquakes (Altunel and Barka ; Piccardi ; Kumsar et al . ) with magnitudes up to 6.0 (Hancock et al . ) that were triggered by normal faulting and extension of the basin (Kaypak and Gökkaya ).…”

Greece and Turkey Shaken by African tectonic retreat

“…A large number of ancient cites were built close to the active fault zones, and destroyed by strong historical earthquakes 49 . For instance, the city of Priene (Fig.…”

Land use change detection in Denizli city center using spectral angle mapper method and evaluations in terms of some earth science data

“…Figure 3 represents the historical and instrumental earthquakes recorded around the region. It is known that the city center and villages caused by strong earthquakes occurred in magnitude of 6.6 in 1702 and 6.5 in 1717 were damaged, almost the city was rebuilt and nearly 6,000 loss of life were recorded by the earthquakes [6]. Figure 3.…”

“…The city center and its surroundings are surrounded by Denizli and Babadağ fault zones [5], so it has high seismic activity today as it was in history. It is known that many ancient cities in and around Denizli were destroyed as a result of historical earthquakes [6].…”