1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:07,200 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello, Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:10,040 Speaker 1: where we flipped through the book of history and bring 4 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:25,119 Speaker 1: you a new page every day. Today is July. The 5 00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:31,280 Speaker 1: day was July. An earthquake off the coast of Crete 6 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:33,880 Speaker 1: triggered a tsunami and was likely part of a larger 7 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:37,640 Speaker 1: sequence of sizemic events that caused destruction in Peloponnese Is 8 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 1: the Greek islands Sicily, Libya, Cyprus. In Egypt, there was 9 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:45,559 Speaker 1: no way to measure earthquakes in the fourth century, but 10 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:49,199 Speaker 1: since then scientists have estimated the quake's magnitude to have 11 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:53,240 Speaker 1: been at least eight point oh The earthquake, which happened 12 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,720 Speaker 1: in the early morning, destroyed almost all the towns in Crete. 13 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:00,320 Speaker 1: Areas of land and crete were lifted by a least 14 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:04,319 Speaker 1: thirty feet or nine meters. The city of ancient Phila 15 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:07,080 Speaker 1: Sarna was uplifted so that it's harbor could not be 16 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:11,759 Speaker 1: used anymore. Researchers at the University of Cambridge carbon dated 17 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:14,680 Speaker 1: corals on the coast of Crete and determined that a 18 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:17,800 Speaker 1: quake lifted them thirty three ft or ten ms in 19 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 1: one push. That meant that there must have been an 20 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:24,120 Speaker 1: earthquake in a steep fault in the Hellenic Trench near Crete. 21 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 1: The Hellenic Trent is a linear depression that forms the 22 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:31,400 Speaker 1: boundary between the Hellenic Tectonic Plate and the African Plate. 23 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:35,560 Speaker 1: The earthquake and subsequent tsunami were blamed for destruction in 24 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:39,200 Speaker 1: the Nile Delta and on other coasts in the eastern Mediterranean, 25 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:43,600 Speaker 1: and for the death of thousands of people. Roman historian 26 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: Ammianus Marcellinus described the destruction that the earthquake and tsunami caused. 27 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 1: Slightly after daybreak, and heralded by a thick succession of 28 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: fiercely shaken thunderbolts, the solidity of the whole earth was 29 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:00,200 Speaker 1: made to shake and shudder, and the sea was driven away. 30 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,440 Speaker 1: Its waves were rolled back, and it disappeared, so that 31 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 1: the abyss of the depths was uncovered, and many shaped 32 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:09,400 Speaker 1: varieties of sea creatures were seen stuck in the slime, 33 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 1: the great waste of those valleys and mountains which the 34 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: very creation had dismissed, beneath the vast whirlpools. At that moment, 35 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:21,320 Speaker 1: as it was given to be believed, looked up at 36 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:26,160 Speaker 1: the sun's rays, many ships then were stranded as if 37 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 1: on dry land, and people wandered at will about the 38 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: paltry remains of the waters to collect fish in the 39 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 1: like in their hands. Then the roaring Sea, as if 40 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 1: insulted by its repulse, rises back in turn and through 41 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:43,799 Speaker 1: the teeming shoals, dashed itself violently on islands and extensive 42 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:47,640 Speaker 1: tracks of the mainland, and fightened innumerable buildings in towns 43 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:51,919 Speaker 1: or wherever they were found. Damage in the Eastern Mediterranean 44 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 1: and three six was applied spread, leading researchers to conclude 45 00:02:56,520 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: that the July twenty one earthquake was not isolated, but 46 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:03,520 Speaker 1: part of a series of local earthquakes that might have 47 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:08,000 Speaker 1: included major events off of Cyprus and between Sicily and Libya. 48 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 1: In addition to Crete, these seizemic events may have happened 49 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 1: in such a short period that historical accounts regarded them 50 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:20,680 Speaker 1: as a single event. In fact, historical and archaeological data 51 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,840 Speaker 1: suggests that the fourth to sixth centuries was a period 52 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 1: with a lot of seismic activity in the Eastern Mediterranean, 53 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 1: which may reflect a reactivation of all plate boundaries in 54 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: the region. Debate continues over whether ancient accounts of the 55 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:40,400 Speaker 1: July twenty one earthquake, describe a single regional catastrophe, or 56 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:43,840 Speaker 1: represented the conflation of several quakes that occurred in the 57 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: fourth and fifth centuries. The disaster was recognized as a 58 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 1: Day of Horror in some archaeological sources. While some researchers 59 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: have said that the three sixty five CE disaster led 60 00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 1: to the split of the already declining Roman Empire thirty 61 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:02,920 Speaker 1: years later, others have said that the earthquake was not 62 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 1: the cause of any major cultural change. I'm Eves Jeff 63 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:10,280 Speaker 1: Cote and hopefully you know a little more about history 64 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. And if you'd like to 65 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:16,599 Speaker 1: follow us on social media, you can find us at 66 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:22,839 Speaker 1: T D I h C Podcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. 67 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:36,000 Speaker 1: Come back tomorrow for another Tidbit from History. 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