Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Seismicity of Yemen

Abstract

The Arabian Peninsula often appears totally aseismic on maps of world seismicity, reflecting the apparent absence of earthquakes during the twentieth century and particularly since the improvement of the worldwide seismological network after the 1960s. Events in south-west Arabia have seldom attracted attention outside the area and this has hindered reporting of earthquakes in regional catalogues. We show here that by contrast, historical sources of local information describe a fairly continuous occurrence of medium magnitude, damaging shocks over the past 12 centuries, including a destructive event in 1941 that in many respects resembles the recent earthquake of December 1982. The common presumption that the Arabian Peninsula has a very low seismicity is incorrect.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Sieberg, A. Handb. Geophys. 4, 109 (1932).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Al-Khazraji, al-'uqud al-lululiyyah fi tarikh al-dawlat al-Rasuliyyah, i, 154; ii, 170, 238, 280 (London, 1906, 1907).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Theophanis, Patrologia Graeca (ed. Migne, J. P.) 108 (Paris, 1861).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Cedrinos, Corp. Script. Hist. Byz. (ed. Bekker, I.) 24 (Bonn, 1838).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Michel le Syrien Chronique 11, 22/ii, 507 (Brussels, 1963).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Yahya b. al-Husayn Ghayat al-amani fi akhbar al-qatr al-Yamani (ed. 'Ashur, S.) i, 152, 308 (Cairo, 1968).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Yasin al-'Umari al-Athar al-jaliya fi 'l-hawadith al-ardiya fol. 59r, 130v, 132r, 139r, 145r, 159v, 168r, 205r (Iraq Academy, Baghdad, 1796).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Yahya b. al-Husayn in Taher, M. A., thesis, Univ. Paris, Sorbonne (1979).

  9. Al-'Aydarusi al-Nur al-safir 'an akhbar al-qarn al-'ashir (ed. al-Sarfar, M. S.) 51, 52, 91, 93 (Baghdad, 1934).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Al-Wasi'i Tarikh al-Yaman 54, 113, 118, 163, 224 (Cairo, 1928).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Abdullah al-Hibshi al-Thawrah (19 December 1982).

    Google Scholar 

  12. ‘Abd al-Qadir, Waqai' manazil-i Rum (ed. Mohibbul Hasan) 157 (London, 1968).

  13. Degrandpré, L. Voyage dans l'Inde et au Bengale 2, 267–269 (Paris, 1801).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Perrey, A. Mem. Cour. et Mem. Savants Etrang. 13, pt 3, 41 (Bruxelles, 1862).

    Google Scholar 

  15. Agamennone, G. Bull. met. Sis. Obs. de Constantinople 1, xxxiii (Constantinople, 1896).

    Google Scholar 

  16. Palazzo, L. Boll. Soc. sism, ital. 19, 335 (1915).

    Google Scholar 

  17. India Office Records R/20/B/INT/1/1/1 nos 3, 6, 9, 10, 11 Aden Intelligence Summaries & R/15/2/323 no. 2 East Aden Protectorate, Intelligence Summaries (1941).

  18. Sykes, L. & Landisman, M. Bull. seism. Soc. Am. 54, 1929 (1964).

    Google Scholar 

  19. Rothé, J. P. The Seismicity of the Earth 1953–1965, 277 (Unesco, Paris, 1969).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ambraseys, N., Melville, C. Seismicity of Yemen. Nature 303, 321–323 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/303321a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/303321a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing