July 9, 553 Earthquake: Bayrut (Beirut), Lebanon
An earthquake struck Bayrut (Beirut), Lebanon on July 9, 553.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- July 9, 553
- Place
- Bayrut (Beirut), Lebanon
- Intensity
- X, extreme shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 33.900° N, 35.500° E
- Country
- Lebanon
- Region
- Middle East
The toll
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
553, July 9. Beyrough ruined. Intensity IX-X. (reference #1222)
553 or 555, August 15 at dawn. Constantinople, and many other parts of the world, even extending to part of Egypt. The shocks lasted forty days. The city of Berytus was ruined. (reference #521)
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #1222 Alsinawi, S.A., S.G. Baban, and A.S. Issa (1985). Historical seismicity of the Arab region. IASPEI/UNESCO Working Group on Historical Seismograms and Earthquakes, August 27-28, 1985, Tokyo; Preliminary Proceedings, p. 59-84.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- February 13, 1157, Halab (Aleppo), Syria
- December 5, 1033, Ramala, Gaza, Nablus, Egypt, Israel, Syria
- September 18, 844, Antakya, Dimashq (Damascus), Turkey, Syria
- May 20, 1202, Southwestern, Syria
- November 25, 1759, Damascus, Antioch, Baalbec, Syria, Lebanon-Syria
- 1183, Tripoli, Antakya, Lebanon, Dimashq, Turkey, Syria
- January 1, 1837, Beirut (Beyrout), Zefat (Safed), Lebanon, Israel
- October 30, 1759, Zefat (Safed), Israel
- 1155, Tarabulus, Antioch, Lebanon, Dimashq, Turkey, Syria
- February 26, 1796, Al-Ladhiqiyah (Latakia), Syria
- March 16, 1956, Litani, Lebanon
- 1339, Tarabulus (Tripolis), Lebanon
- October 28, 1354, Hamah (Hama),hims (Hums),balabakk, Syria
- March 29, 1903, Nabulus, Israel
- August 12, 2024, Syria, Lebanon
More
Significant earthquakes of 553The 500sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 141.