Analyses of seismic deformation at the Kibyra Roman stadium, southwest Turkey

Abstract

The ancient city of Kibyra in southwest Turkey has the potential to reveal the location and date of historical earthquakes. The most compelling evidence for earthquake faulting is observed in the city's Roman stadium. Damage related to seismic shaking is characterized by systematically collapsed columns, dilated and collapsed walls, and by rotated and displaced blocks in the stadium. Detailed archaeoseismological observations suggest that Kibyra was affected by earthquakes that were also recorded in historical earthquake catalogs. Although there is no historical record of a large earthquake after the 5th century A.D., Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of deposits under the collapsed blocks suggests a later seismic event. OSL results indicate that another large event occurred in southwest Turkey, probably around the 10-11th century A.D., and caused extensive damage (I-o = VIII-IX) to the Kibyra stadium.