The 1840 Ahora earthquake occurred on 2 July at 1600 local time, affecting Ağrı Province in the Eastern Anatolia Region of present-day Turkey and Armenia. The earthquake had an epicenter near Mount Ararat, where it triggered an eruption and caused a

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...

that destroyed villages. A total of 10,000 people were killed by the earthquake and its damaging

aftershock In seismology, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, in the same area of the main shock, caused as the displaced crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthquakes can have hundreds to thousand ...

s. Earthquake catalogs place the

surface-wave magnitude The surface wave magnitude (M_s) scale is one of the magnitude scales used in seismology to describe the size of an earthquake. It is based on measurements of Rayleigh surface waves that travel along the uppermost layers of the Earth. This ma ...

at 7.4 and Modified Mercalli intensity scale rating at IX (''Violent'').

Tectonic setting

Ağrı Province in Anatolia lies near the triple junction where the North Anatolian Fault meets the East Anatolian Fault and Zagros fold and thrust belt. These three features mark the plate boundaries of the

Anatolian Anatolian or anatolica may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the region Anatolia * Anatolians, ancient Indo-European peoples who spoke the Anatolian languages * Anatolian High School, a type of Turkish educational institution * Anatol ...

Arabian The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...

and Eurasian plates. Being at the junction of three tectonic plates, the region is prone to large shallow earthquakes, mainly of the

strike-slip In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...

and thrust mechanism.

Earthquake

The magnitude 7.4 earthquake occurred along the flanks of Mount Ararat. It triggered a large landslide on the northeastern flank of the volcano, forming the Ahora

Gorge A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

; a prominent feature. An eruption was triggered, melting the glacier on the summit, resulting in a

lahar A lahar (, from jv, ꦮ꧀ꦭꦲꦂ) is a violent type of mudflow or debris flow composed of a slurry of pyroclastic material, rocky debris and water. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a river valley. Lahars are extreme ...

that buried villages. The lahar and landslide deposited near the base of the volcano creating a large alluvial fan. In 2006, an academic study estimated 3 × 10⁸ m³ of volcanic material and glacial melt flowed down the gorge at 175 meters per second.

Impact

The earthquake and lahar killed all 1,000 residents and monks of Akory ( Yenidoğan) and the

Saint Hakob of Akori monastery Saint Hakob of Akori Monastery (; pronounced ''Akori Surb Hakob Vank''; also sometimes referred to as Saint James), was an Armenian monastery located in the southeastern part of the historic region of Surmali (today the Iğdır Province of modern ...

. A massive air blast caused severe damage. The regions of

Avajiq Avajiq ( fa, آواجيق; az, Avacıq, Kilsəkəndi; tr, Avacık; formerly, Arab Dizaj (Persian: عرب دیزج), also Romanized as ‘Arab Dīzaj, and ‘Arab-e Dīzaj; also known as Arāb Dizeh, ‘Arab-e Dīzehsī, and ‘Arab Dizehsī) is ...

, Pambukh, and Gailatu were devastated; nearly every single village was wiped out. Many homes collapsed and a castle was left in ruins at

Doğubayazıt Doğubayazıt ( ku, Bazîd, ) is a district of Ağrı Province of Turkey, and it is the easternmost district of Turkey, lying near the border with Iran. Its elevation is 1625m and its area is 2,383 km². Doğubayazıt's population in 2010 was 115 ...

. Very few homes remained intact after the quake.

Liquefaction In materials science, liquefaction is a process that generates a liquid from a solid or a gas or that generates a non-liquid phase which behaves in accordance with fluid dynamics. It occurs both naturally and artificially. As an example of the ...

and landslides occurred in the areas further away from Mount Ararat. Sand erupted from fissures in the ground. In Soviet Armenia, the village of Aralık and several military instillations were destroyed. In Nakhichevan and

Sharur Sharur ( ) is a city in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan. It is the administrative centre of the Sharur District. The city is located 66 km northwest of Nakhchivan city, on the Sharur plain. History In a manuscript of the 16t ...

districts, at least 7,821 homes and 24 places of worship were destroyed. Approximately 49 people died and 30 were injured in Russia. The slide also temporarily dammed the Metsamor River. As many as 10,000 people may have been killed in the earthquake and the associated effects, including 1,900 inhabitants from Akhuri.Siebert, L., T. Simkin, and P. Kimberly (2010) ''Volcanoes of the world, 3rd ed.'' University of California Press, Berkeley, California. 551 pp. .

1840 Mount Ararat eruption

phreatic eruption A phreatic eruption, also called a phreatic explosion, ultravulcanian eruption or steam-blast eruption, occurs when magma heats ground water or surface water. The extreme temperature of the magma (anywhere from ) causes near-instantaneous evapo ...

occurred on Mount Ararat on the day the earthquake struck. It generated a pyroclastic flow from

fissure vent A fissure vent, also known as a volcanic fissure, eruption fissure or simply a fissure, is a linear volcanic vent through which lava erupts, usually without any explosive eruption, explosive activity. The vent is often a few metres wide an ...

s along the upper northern flank of the volcano and is possibly associated with the earthquake.

References

{{Earthquakes in Russia Earthquakes in Turkey Earthquakes in Armenia Earthquakes in Russia Earthquakes in Iran 1840s earthquakes Mount Ararat 1840 in the Ottoman Empire History of Ağrı Province 1840 natural disasters

Tectonic setting

Earthquake

Impact

1840 Mount Ararat eruption

See also

References