The ancient earthquake that destroyed almost everything in Crete

Ancient ruins at Festus, Crete. public domain

While the island experiences earthquakes on a regular basis, Crete faced incredible devastation in antiquity after an ancient earthquake destroyed almost everything on the island and region in AD 365.

In fact, the underwater earthquake, believed to have been of magnitude 8.0 or higher, devastated nearly every town and city in the eastern and southern Mediterranean, in an area ranging from mainland Greece to Africa and even Spain.

An earthquake in Crete devastated the region in 365 AD

Archaeologists have conducted numerous excavations proving that most of the towns and cities in the area were destroyed around the time of the earthquake, which occurred in the early morning hours of July 21, 365.

Geologists and seismologists believe that the epicenter of the massive earthquake was off the coast of Crete, where almost all cities were completely destroyed.

Recent geological studies show that the ancient earthquake may have been the result of the reactivation of all major tectonic plate boundaries in the region. The entire island of Crete is believed to have been lifted by nine meters or 30 feet after the earthquake.

The earthquake is believed to be the largest to ever hit the region.

The earthquake in Crete was followed by further devastation as a tsunami devastated the southern and eastern coasts of the Mediterranean.

Thousands of people were killed by the tsunami, particularly in Alexandria, where the day of the catastrophic natural disaster was celebrated annually until the sixth century as a “Day of Terror”.

Historians describe the horrific event

The massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami left a mark on historians and people of the time, who referred to the event frequently.

While some modern scholars debate whether they all refer to the earthquake in Crete in 365, or a series of seismic events that all occurred during this period, ancient authors described the event in harrowing terms.

Many early Christian writers saw the earthquake as a sign of God’s disapproval of paganism, and some, such as the ancient historians Sozomenus and Libanius, argued that the earthquake was a sign of divine anger or grief that Emperor Julian tried to restore. Paganism two years before the earthquake.

Not only is the earthquake frequently mentioned by ancient sources, but the topic of the subsequent tsunami has also been in great focus in antiquity.

The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus described the catastrophic event in detail in his writings. He described the sequence of events that led to the tsunami, explaining at first an earthquake, then suddenly the sea receded, and finally a giant wave appeared that swallowed the coast.

“Shortly after the break of dawn, and heralded by a dense series of thunderous thunderbolts, the whole earth’s solidity shook and trembled, the sea was pushed away, its waves turned, and disappeared, so that the abyss was revealed the depths and many kinds of sea creatures were seen stuck in the mud,” he wrote.

“Then the raging sea rose, as if its repulsion had insulted it, in turn, and through the crowded shallows it galloped violently upon the islands and wide swaths of the mainland, flattening countless buildings in the cities or wherever they were found.”

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