Crimean earthquake (1927)

The oldest earthquake in the Crimea, confirmed by sources - Panticapaean earthquake (63 BC. E.). Described and the disaster of 480 AD. It occurred approximately in September-October and lasted approximately 40 days. The event is known from the inscription that has come down to us in Tauride Chersonesos , which suffered great destruction.

The earthquakes of 1292 , 1471 are known. The Byzantine historian Georgy Kedrin in the book “History” testifies to the earthquake of 1341 , which “reached the Crimea”, was accompanied by a great flood, “the sea protruded from its shores 10 versts and caused non-written harm”.

P. Pallas describes the earthquakes of 1790 and 1793 . About the earthquake of 1802 left detailed evidence P. Sumarokov, who observed it in Sevastopol . The strength of the earthquake was 6 points . A large panic of the population not only on the South Coast, but also in Simferopol was accompanied by the 1838 night earthquake. September 30, 1869 dates from a strong earthquake with an epicenter near Foros , which was described by V. Kondaraki. According to him, the earth’s vibrations even led to the destruction of highly earthquake-proof Genoa constructions. From the strong hum and shaking of the earth, the population was panicked.

According to some sources, the earthquake of July 13, 1875 was not strong, according to others - its strength was up to 7-8 points. There is evidence of the January 1902 earthquake. The documents of the Tauride governor testify to the earthquake of May 18, 1908, other sources about shocks of 5-6 magnitude on October 24, 1908. Memories of the earthquake on December 26, 1919 testify to a great destructive force - there was a storm of extraordinary power, destruction in the Yalta port , damage to the telegraph network are observed.

And although earthquakes occurred in the Crimea since ancient times, the most famous and most devastating earthquakes occurred in 1927. The first of them happened on the afternoon of June 26th . The strength of the earthquake on this day amounted to 6 points on the southern coast. It did not cause any serious damage and casualties, however, as a result of the panic that arose in some places, it was not without victims.

Already during the earthquake itself, the fishermen, who were at sea on June 26, 1927 at 13:21, noted an unusual excitement: when the weather was absolutely quiet and clear, a small swell formed on the water and the sea seemed to be boiling. Before the earthquake, it remained completely quiet and calm, and during the pushes there was a strong noise. Those who were swimming and diving at this time were stunned by the underwater crash. The depth of the sea here was obviously not less than a few tens of meters, and these phenomena should reflect the fluctuations of the bottom of the sea or stormy emanations from the depths.

The focal area of ​​the earthquake was located under the bottom of the sea, to the south of the villages of Foros and Mshatka, and probably stretched across the coast. Two hours before the start of the earthquake in the bay between Ayu-Dag and Plaka cape, about 40 meters from the coast, a long strip of foam appeared, which disappeared in a few minutes. At the same time, the sea, as witnesses testified, remained calm. Undoubtedly, disturbances have already arisen at the bottom and in the water column, and this area is located 30 km northeast of the nearest edge of the zone where the greatest tremors will occur. Consequently, the processes of preparation of this earthquake covered an area no less than twice as large as the one in which the center was located.

According to eyewitnesses, after the June pushes, all the transport from the Crimea was filled with frightened tourists, who immediately jumped off and returned home. Several people received bruises and injuries, there were no dead. Great landslides were in the vicinity of Sevastopol, cracks appeared in the houses, post office buildings and one of the churches were damaged. According to newspapers, the total amount of losses exceeded one million rubles.

The earthquake of September 12, 1927 was much stronger, and caused a real catastrophe - there were dead (3 people), wounded (65 people), huge destruction. The center of the earthquake was located under the seabed, south of Yalta , and was stretched along the coast.

The first signs of an earthquake began to appear about 20 hours. Animals noticeably worried and refused to feed. Horses anxiously bellowed and broke off from the kennels, continually mooing cows, dogs and cats clung to their masters.

The fishermen who set off for the night fishing heard the buzz of the sea between Alushta and Sudak . The excitement in the form of a small swell, outwardly similar to the “boiling sea,” unusual in absolutely quiet weather, made even the bravest to return to the shore. Exactly at midnight, dogs began to whine across the coast. After 15 minutes, a strong roar broke this howl. Earth hesitated. Glass burst in houses, plaster fell off, floors and ceilings crackled, iron sheets on the roofs thundered, chimneys fell. People woke up. There were screams from the open windows. For the first impulse, which lasted no more than 10 seconds, followed by the second. All rushed to flee the houses where the walls fell, the roofs split, the balconies and the cornices collapsed. Collapses thundered in the mountains, the sea moved away from the coast and again fell upon it with a stormy wave. The lights went out. Incessant shocks, collapsing buildings, moans of the wounded, mass hysteria and ridiculous rumors caused an unusual panic. In Yalta, “panic,” according to eyewitness N. V. Kalin, “has increased with the anxiety of animals. The dogs, having gathered from all over the city in flocks, especially before the onset of strong shocks, flew out of the darkness with a plaintive howl ... ”.

In the mountains, landslides and landslides have occurred, traces of which, such as, for example, on Mount Demerdzhi , in the mountains near Sudak , are still found. Within 11 hours there were 27 strong shocks. In just a few days, more than 200 shocks were recorded. At the sea near Sevastopol, huge columns of smoke and fire appeared. The earth seemed to be in a fever. Now and then there was a panic. Severe destruction was also observed in Simferopol, many villages in the foothill and steppe parts of the Crimea were turned into piles of ruins. The earthquake lasted several days, even on September 15, its shocks were still felt. Then all the holidaymakers left the Crimea. Most of the memories of these days contain words about what they experienced simply "defies description."

The most powerful shocks led to the destruction of buildings on the coastal strip of land from Alushta to Sevastopol. In Alushta, hotels and the Genoese tower were damaged, in Alupka - Vorontsov Palace and a mosque. Debris was formed on the highway near Oreanda , the village of landslide was severely damaged, there were landslides on Mount Koshka . In the area of ​​Yalta, 70% of the buildings suffered, in the city itself were damaged hotels "Russia", "Yalta", residential buildings.

At 30 km to the west of Sevastopol, pillars and curtains were seen. It all started on the evening of September 11th . Then many drew attention to a special sunset. Professor P. A. Dvoichenko, a hydrologist, recalled how, on his way to Chersonesus , he saw that “the western part of the sky was engulfed in bright buato-orange light, which effectively reflected on the smooth surface of Quarantine Bay. It was as if a fire was burning, the bright light of which passed through the smoke screen. The glare from the water surface was so bright that the horse rushed to the side and did not want to drive close to the water. ” After sunset, a strong thunderstorm broke out, then the sky cleared, and the full moon shone in it.

According to eyewitnesses, during the earthquake, they observed “red fire in the form of a strong summer light” in a westerly direction, where there were no thunderclouds at that time. It turns out that the fiery flashes were really huge in size, since they were visible at a distance of 60–70 km. A fire flash about 500 m high and about 1.8 km wide was observed on Cape Lukull . These flashes were visible even from Evpatoria. Also from the stories of eyewitnesses from Feodosia, it is known that 30 km towards Anapa (that is, on the other side of the main chamber and also at a great distance from it), at sea, fire poles were also noticed. Thus, it turns out that flashes of fire, including linearly spreading, took place in the Sevastopol-Evpatoria, Sudak (conditionally) and Theodosia zones. In the first they were observed during the main earthquake and the aftershocks that followed that night, then in the beginning of October, in the second - in the first days of October. Some of them are definitely connected with earthquakes.

Already in the 1930s, it was assumed that flashes of fire above water were associated with the ignition of methane coming out of the sea floor through cracks formed during seismic movements. Now, this was confirmed by experts from the National Agency for Marine Research and Technology of Ukraine. The occurrence of fire torches above the water as a result of burning methane is well known during mud eruptions in the Baku archipelago in the Caspian Sea. Consequently, there is every reason to believe that flashes of fire in the form of stripes and spots above the water mark cracks in the bottom, as is often the case on land with strong earthquakes.

According to other assumptions, hydrogen sulfide could burn, which is dissolved in the lower layers of the Black Sea water and under certain conditions could degas and flare up on the surface.

According to one of the theories of the structure of the Earth , at this moment there was an active degassing of hydrogen from the earth's crust as a result of its movements.

The first impetus of the Crimean earthquake was described in the novel “12 chairs” by Ilf and Petrov:

With the sound of glass, glass jumped out, and an umbrella with the inscription “I want Podkolesina”, caught in a whirlwind, flew out of the window to the sea. Ostap was lying on the floor, easily pinned down by plywood boards. It was twelve hours and fourteen minutes. It was the first impact of a large Crimean earthquake in 1927. A nine-point strike, which caused incalculable disasters to the entire peninsula, tore the treasure from the hands of the concessionaires.

Mikhail Zoshchenko in the humor story “Earthquake” conveyed the sensations of a shoemaker-private trader who, when drunk, fell asleep just before the start of the earthquake, and woke up after the end of the tremors:

Only early in the morning, about six o'clock, maybe, our Snopkov tore through his eyes. Our Snopkov woke up under the cypress tree and, therefore, does not recognize his native yard. All the more their stone booth fell down, and the wall spread out, and the fence fell to its side. Just the same cypress, and everything else is quite difficult to recognize.

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• Crimean earthquakes
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• Earthquake of 1927 and restoration of Alushta