Historical Earthquakes of Ancient Perinthos (Marmara Ereglisi) until the 15th Century

Byzantion (Istanbul), Perinthos (Marmara Ereglisi), and Cyzikos (Belkis) were the most important ports of the Marmara Sea in ancient times. While Byzantion was an estuary, Perinthos and Cyzikos were tombolo type ports. Although Byzantion has continued to develop since its foundation, Perinthos has lost its importance as a port in the Marmara Sea, and Cyzikos has been abandoned and turned into the Belkis ruins. Another point shared by Perinthos and Cyzikos, which were turned into ports after the Flandrian transgression, is that they are very close to branches of the North Anatolian Fault. Perinthos is located on the northern shoreline of the Marmara Sea, 90 km west of the Bosphorus. The northern branch of the North Anatolian Fault crosses just a few km to the south of the town. Earthquakes, tectonic uplift, tsunamis, offshore landslides and floods have had natural effects on the foundation and development of this ancient city. Although Perinthos is on a seismically active area, there are insufficient historical records of faulting events with the exception of those which heavily damaged Istanbul. The oldest earthquake record is a December 427 BC event; the intensity of the Gelibolu earthquake was VIII in 282 BC; but the effects of the 90 BC Saros and 93 BC Canakkale earthquakes are unknown for Perinthos. There are historical records of repairs on the City walls in the 2nd and 3rd centuries.. The damage to these city walls might have happened after the 10 November 117 Kapidag Peninsula, 138 Canakkale-Bandirma, 160 Canakkale and 3 May 170 Marmara Sea earthquakes. Perinthos was still alive at the beginning of Byzantine era. The residents of the town asked the Emperor Theododius the Second for the restoration of aqueducts which were damaged by the 430 Istanbul earthquake (I=VIII). While there were no significant known effects of the 478 Canakkale and 484 Gelibolu events, damage from the 6 September 543, 553 Canakkale, 557 Silivri and 558 Istanbul ones were fixed immediately. The name of the town changed to Herakleia in this period. Aqueducts and city walls were repaired again in Justinian's times (527-568). Other earthquakes that effected the town occurred in 715, 740 (Marmara Sea and Thrace shores), 760 (Istanbul and Thrace), 860 (Marmara), 989 (Marmara), 23 September 1063/1064 (Bandirma, Cyzikos, Iznik, Murefte, Istanbul), 1296 (Istanbul, Marmara), 1343 (Eregi-Ganos), 14 October 1344 (Gelibolu, Thrace shores, Istanbul Marmara Island), 1 March 1354 (Gelibolu, Marmara northern shores, Thrace), September-November 1437 (Istanbul and Gelibolu).