On Traces of Strong Late Medieval Earthquakes at the Uzbek Madrasah–Mosque Complex, Staryi Krym, Crimea

Abstract

The results of archeoseismological investigations of medieval architectural monuments—the Uzbek Mosque and Indzhi-Bey-Khatun Madrasah (Uzbek Madrasah–Mosque Complex)—in the town of Staryi Krym (eastern Crimean Peninsula) are presented. The character of revealed destructions and collapses unambiguously indicates their seismic origin. Local seismic intensity was apparently VIII ≤ I ≤ IX on the MSK-64 scale. Using this data, we reveal traces of at least two significant seismic events. According to the results of our archeological study, the first occurred at the beginning of the 15th century: this was likely the Yalta earthquake of 1423, with the maximum integrated seismic effect then being directed along the submeridional axis. The second strong earthquake occurred later. The preserved illustrations and photographs suggest destructions took place in the late 18th–19th century, between 1797 and 1888–1889(?). The maximum integrated seismic effect of this later earthquake was directed along the WNW–ESE axis. The Yalta earthquakes of 1927 did not significantly damage either the mosque or the madrasah.