April 9, 37 Earthquake: Antakya (Antioch), Turkey

Reference #9116:

A destructive earthquake in the region of Antioch, which occurred at dawn, ruined the city and a part of Daphne, one of its suburbs, with great loss of life. A landslide may have ensued on the hill of Orontes by Antioch.

This was the second destruction of Antioch since the arrival of the Macedonians (c. 300 BC), and the damage was apparently so great that the emperor Gaius responded with substantial amounts of relief and a building programme.

The principal source for the details of this event is Malalas, who, although writing much later in the sixth century AD, probably drew on earlier public records in Antioch. Although an earthquake is not mentioned specifically in Malalas' account, it seems reasonable to assume he was reffering to one, since there was no war going on at the time that might have resulted in similar damage, and Claudius' benefactions are typical of the aftermath of an earthquake.

The Slavonic version of Malalas may refer to landslides along the River Orontes, close to Antioch: 'there occurred on the hill of Orontes a second fall', although this text is known to be corrupted. Malalas nowhere mentiones the first disaster since the arrival of the Macedonians, though it may be the earthquake, which occurred during the occupation of Syria by Tigranes (c. 69 BC).

The date of this earthquake is given very clearly by Malalas, as 23 Dystrus (March) in the first year of Gaius' reign and the 85th year of the antiochene era, which is 9 April AD 37. Modern scholars give 23 March, failing to translate the date.