Kiyev Earthquake, 1230

Abstract

The Russian handwritten chronicle Povest vremennikh let (= Myths of the temporary years) was created in the second half of the sixteenth century on the command of the Russian czar Ivan the Terrible (1530–1584). The chronicle was based on old written records on the history of the country and gathered from older chronicles and other sources. The original is now kept in the Central Library in Moscow (former Lenin State Library); the above image (Fig. 82) was mediated by courtesy of A.A. Nikonov, Moscow.

The portrayed scene was a poor fantasy of the artist, possibly only four inclined columns (knocked down by an earthquake) might have indicated some seismic effects described in the accompanying text. In agreement with the narrative story, groups of people keenly discuss the event. The illustration is, however, related to the true matter of fact. The Russian seismologist A.A. Nikonov suggested that the tremor of the earthquake, which was felt at Kiyev in AD 1230 and was recorded in many documents, had its epicenter in the seismi-cally active Vrancea zone in Romania. The repercussions of the earthquake were felt as far as 1,250 km and its magnitude was later assessed as M = 7. In the sixteenth century chronicle, we may find, in total, four illustrations depicting various consequences of seismic events in Ukraine or in the central parts of European Russia, which occurred between AD 1130 (date of the earthquake felt at Rostov-the-Great) and the date when the chronicle appeared completed.