The 881 Acre earthquake took place in the vicinity of Acre in 881 (

Hijri year The Hijri year ( ar, سَنة هِجْريّة) or era ( ''at-taqwīm al-hijrī'') is the era used in the Islamic lunar calendar. It begins its count from the Islamic New Year in which Muhammad and his followers migrated from Mecca to Yathr ...

268).

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

was reportedly affected by the same earthquake. Antonopoulos, 1980 According to the geophysicist

August Heinrich Sieberg August Heinrich Sieberg (born 23 December 1875 in Aachen; died 18 November 1945 in Jena) was a German geophysicist. He researched mainly in the field of seismology and developed a seismic intensity scales as well as a tsunami intensity scale. Si ...

(1875–1945), the earthquake caused a seismic sea wave (

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...

). The tsunami affected mainly the city of Acre (Acca) and its vicinity, where it caused much damage. Antonopoulos, 1980 Sieberg's main source on the subject was the geologist

Bailey Willis Bailey Willis (March 31, 1857 in Idle Wild-on-Hudson, New York, United States – February 19, 1949 in Palo Alto, California) was a geological engineer who worked for the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and lectured at two prominent Amer ...

(1857–1949), who in turn cited the physician Joseph Désiré Tholozan (1820–1897) as his source on the historical earthquake. Antonopoulos, 1980 Tholozan's account estimates the earthquake to have taken place in either 881 or 882. Except Acca, other areas affected by seismic waves were reportedly the coast of Alexandria, and the coasts of the Syria region. The narrative also mentions that the earthquake causes similar waves in the river

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest ...

. Antonopoulos, 1980 Tholozan's account is nearly identical to the description of the 1303 Crete earthquake (Hijri year 702), which also affected Alexandria. The journal Annals of Geophysics has raised doubts on the

historicity Historicity is the historical actuality of persons and events, meaning the quality of being part of history instead of being a historical myth, legend, or fiction. The historicity of a claim about the past is its factual status. Historicity denot ...

of this earthquake, suggesting that Tholozan had misdated the events depicted in the narrative. Antonopoulos, 1980

References

General

Specific

{{coord missing, Israel 881 9th-century earthquakes 9th century in the Abbasid Caliphate 9th century in Egypt Acre, Israel Medieval Alexandria Earthquakes in the Abbasid Caliphate