July 2, 1840 Earthquake: Maku, Mt Ararat, Aguri, Aralikh, Iran, Turkey

1840 July 2 Maku-Ararat, 39.5 N, 43.5 E, magnitude 7.4. Late in the afternoon of 20 June (Old Style)/2 July 1840, a catastrophic earthquake hit the isolated region between the upper Euphrates and Mount Ararat, affecting a large area in Russia, Turkey and Iran. The main concentration of damage was in the districts of Avajik, Pambukh and Gailatu, where almost all villages were destroyed with great loss of life. In Dogubayazit all houses, including the castle, were ruined with the exception of the mosque. Kazl-gol and Masun were also destroyed. In the region of the upper Euphrates many settlements were severely damaged, and in Bazargan and Maku few houses survived intact.

Further away in Kagizman, Kulp and Igdir, as well as in the plain of the Araxes, from the district of Sharur to Nakhichevan and Urdubad, the shock was less severe but it did cause widespread damage to those villages situated in the low-lying parts of the plain. Here, the ground is marshy and as a result of the earthquake numerous areas to the west of the Araxes between the Qareh-su and the Arpa-chai rivers were intensely fractured. Liquefied sand was ejected from fissures in the ground and on all spots where the banks of the Araxes and Qareh-su are high. Landslides and slumping of the ground added to the damage. Landslides triggered by aftershocks overwhelmed the village of Qareh Khajilu and elsewhere the flow of the Araxes was temporarily dammed, the river over-topping its banks and flooding the surroundings. In the low-lying parts of the Sharur and Nakhichevan districts in Russian territory, the earthquake and its aftershocks ruined 7821 houses, 24 churches and mosques, 107 water mills and killed 49 people, injuring about 30.

The earthquake triggered a colossal slide from above the snow-line of the northeastern side of Mount Ararat. A mass of shattered rock, ice and snow moved down the mountain so fast that a violent air blast was sent out in front of it. Before it was arrested by a natural darn about 900 m above the valley floor, the slide overwhelmed Arguri, the only village in Ararat, killing all its inhabitants (about 1000 in all) and destroying the small monastery of St James (St Jacob), 3 km above, burying all the monks and destroying also the holy well of St James. At nine in the morning of 24 June (Old Style)/6 July, the natural dam burst and within minutes the slide debris spread out into the plain below in a 12 km-wide front, destroying, Aralik and three other villages 20 km away. It blocked the Qareh-su river which was forced to change its course.

Rockfalls and slides were reported from other parts of the meizoseismal region, notably from Pambukh and Chingal, where they killed people and herds of sheep. As a result of the earthquake, the flow in many of the streams and springs in the upper Euphrates and in the Sharur district increased, while in the region of Nakhichevan many springs dried up for some time.

The earthquake caused minor damage at Edjmiadsin, Erivan and Gar'ni and it was strongly felt in Alexandropol (Leninakan), Tiflis, in the Karabagh, at Shusha, in Tabriz and in Van. The shock was also felt at Linkuran, in the Talish district on the coast of the Caspian, as well as on the eastern shores of the Black Sea. Aftershocks continued for some time, causing additional damage, particularly in the plain of the Araxes and around Maku and Kazl-gcl. They did not stop until early in 1841.

(above from referrence #1117)

1840 June 20 - July 28 (old style) 6h45m P.N. at Tiflis, at 7h10m (P.R.?) at Erivan at 7h30m. The whole district of mount Ararat in Armenia. A series of violent earthquakes. (reference #1217)

July 2, 1840, 16:00 UTC, 39.7 N, 44.4 E, magnitude 6.7, intensity VIII-IX. (reference #223)

July 2, 1840, 16:00 UTC, 39.7 N, 44.4 E, magnitude 6.7, intensity VIII-IX, 1000 people killed. (reference #3437)