April 5, 1045 Earthquake: Erzincan, Turkey

In the summer of 1045 there was a destructive earthquake at Erznka (now Erzincan, in Turkey), and its district. causing the total destruction of the city and of many churches in its territory. The principal earthquake was followed by numerous strongly felt aftershocks, lasting for almost a year, probably until 6 March 1046. The earthquake also caused deep fissures. reference #10420)

1045 Apr 5, Erzincan. This was an earthquake in the eastern terminal of the North Anatolian fault zone. It affected the district of Ekegheach, which extended from Susehri to Tercan. Erzincan suffered the worst destruction. Many of the town’s churches were razed to the ground; the town itself lay in ruins and many people were killed. It is probable that the same happened to Ani (modern Kemah) west of Erzincan. The sources refer to ground deformations associated with this event, perhaps alluding to surface faulting. The earthquake was followed by aftershocks for an unspecified period of time. Most of the accounts for this earthquake are repetitive, adding no information other than that it was a significant event that affected the North Anatolian region. They attribute ground deformations and the damage at Kemakh to this earthquake. The Armenian version of Matthew of Edessa (dating from the twelfth century) places this event in the summer of a.Arm. 494 (10 March 1045 to 9 March 1046), i.e. summer 1045. He notes in particular the destruction in the Ekegheach district and the occurrence of aftershocks. Michael the Syrian (Syriac version) places it in a.S. 1356 (1044–45) ‘ on the Friday of the week of the Ninevites ’, i.e. Good Friday. Since Easter was on 7 April in AD 1045 (Grumel 1958, 255), the earthquake must have happened on 5 April. The Syriac version gives few details. The Armenian version notes an earthquake ‘ after the submersion of Ezangai ’ (presumably in a flood?), but places it in Arachiavork of a.Arm. 460 (1011), but also during the reign of Constantine IX Monomachus (1042–55; Mich. Syr. 289 n. 8) […]Guidoboni and Traina (1995, 128), date this event to 565 a.Arm (1116). However, Hakobyan assumes that this earthquake occurred at Erzincan and he adds that Erivanec ¸i (writing in the thirteenth century) dates the event to 467 a.Arm. (1018). […] Abu’l Faraj (228/204; writing in the thirteenth century) records the ‘ submersion ’o f“Arzengan’ (Erzanga) in a.H. 438 (1046–47). While this could be taken as an allusion to the engulfing of settlements in the ground, it probably refers to the flood in Erzanga earlier in the same year as the earthquake, from which only the Monastery of the Sons of Cyriacus escaped flooding. (reference #9116)