The Kinematics of the 1033 A.D. Earthquake Revealed by the Damage at Hisham Palace (Jordan Valley, Dead Sea Transform Zone)

we bring together and analyze new coseismic data
from field survey and historical pictures, critically revise the
deformation pattern from literature, and review the seismological
insights from archaeological excavations. Khirbet al-Mafjar
also preserves evidence of surface faulting, a rare and exceptional
feature in archaeological sites. The collected data and
results allow us to (1) identify the earthquake responsible for
the damage at Hisham palace, (2) recognize the possible seismogenic
structure and its kinematics, (3) contribute to the
reconstruction of the past historical seismicity affecting the
area during the palace occupation, and (4) improve the knowledge
of the seismotectonic setting of the Jordan Valley.
GEOLOGICAL SETTING
The Dead Sea Transform zone (Fig. 1) is about 1100 km long,
a north–south striking, left-lateral fault system representing
the active boundary between the Arabian and African plates
(Garfunkel et al., 1981). The north–south striking Jericho
fault belongs to this system and runs along about half the
length of the Dead Sea Basin in its middle part. On land,
the fault affects the central sector of the Jordan Valley
(Gardosh et al., 1990). The Jericho fault, which cuts Holocene
terrains, is characterized by prevailing strike-slip movements
with minor extensional and compressive components (Reches
and Hoexter, 1981). In the Jordan Valley, Global Positioning
!
Figure 1. Geodynamic setting (inset) and schematic map of the
Dead Sea fault system in the Jericho Valley. Macroseismic intensity
of the 1033 A.D. earthquake occurred in the Khirbet area (data
from Guidoboni and Comastri, 2005). Location of the archaeological
site and of main fault traces is reported. The white square
delimits the area shown in Figure 6.
doi: 10.1785/0220130060 Seismological Research

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