Coordinates: 33°47′N 35°35′E / 33.78°N 35.58°E / 33.78; 35.58

1956 Chim earthquake

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1956 Chim earthquake
UTC timeDoublet earthquake:    
 A: 1956-03-16 19:32:43
 B: 1956-03-16 19:43:31
ISC event 
 A: 888079
 B: 888080
USGS-ANSS 
 A: ComCat
 B: ComCat
Local dateMarch 16, 1956 (1956-03-16)
Local time21:32:43
Magnitude 
 A: 5.3 Mw
 B: 5.5 Mw
EpicenterLua error in Module:Coordinates at line 489: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
Areas affectedLebanon
Casualties136 dead

The 1956 Chim earthquake was a destructive multiple-shock event that occurred on March 16 in Lebanon along a strand of the Dead Sea Transform (DST) fault system.[1] The epicenter was located in the south of Lebanon in the Chouf District. Six thousand homes were destroyed and another 17,000 were damaged. The number of persons killed was 136.[2]

Tectonic setting

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The DST is a 1,609 km (1,000 mi) long transform fault that runs in a mostly north–south direction from the northern end of the Red Sea along the Jordan Rift Valley to the Taurus Mountains complex in southern Turkey. The left-lateral fault zone marks the boundary of the Arabian plate and the Sinai-Levantine block and consists of multiple parallel faults.[3] As the fault moves through Lebanon and Syria the fault trace follows a restraining bend and splits into several strands that include the Serghaya, Rachaya, and Roum faults, as well as the prominent Yammouneh fault.[4]

Earthquake

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The Roum fault runs for a length of 35 kilometers (22 mi) between the Hula basin the Awali river and is the westernmost strand of the fault system in that area. A paleoseismic trench investigation revealed that it may have been the source of the twin-shock event.[5]

The twin shocks were separated by less than fifteen minutes with the first event occurring at 19:32 and the second event at 19:43 hours.[2] The initial shock was estimated to measure (Mw  = 5.3) and the second event was rated (Mw  = 5.5).

See also

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References

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