Strong Earthquakes in North-Western Africa in the Second Half of the 17th Century, AD: A Critical Reappraisal of the Historical Evidence - Historical Seismology: Interdisciplinary Studies of Past and Recent Earthquakes - page 163

Ta b l e 2 The occurrences of 1673 in Algiers (Rela¸am nova, e verdadeira ... , 1673)

Date Time Place Occurrences

1673.03.10? Algiers A “fiery snake” (meteorite?)

is seen plunging into the
sea just before the first
earthquake shock.

1673.03.10 9 h in the night Algiers The earth starts shaking.

1673.03.10 in the night Algiers 18 earthquake shocks are felt.

1673.03.10/11 next day Algiers 6 earthquake shocks are felt.

1673.03.11/12 next night Algiers 47 earthquake shocks are felt.

1673.03 during the 24 h

before

A place called “Arboleda”
(possibly a Spanish
rendering of the Arabic
name “Bab el Oued”,
i.e. Algiers North gate)

A landslide or mudslide
destroys 80 houses.

1673.03 Algiers Catholic slaves celebrate the

Church rituals prescribed
in case of calamities
(Rogations, Rosary) in the
Bagnos 1 chapels.

1673.03.31 Southern end of Algiers

beach

More than 200 dead
“corvinas” (birds?) and fish
found.

1673.04.2 Easter.

1673.04.10 Southern end of Algiers

beach

More than 500 dead fish
found.

1673.05.21 Pentecost Day

(“Pascua de
Espiritu
Santo”)

Algiers Earthquake shocks felt up to

this day.

1673.05.30 Algiers Rela¸am's writing date.

1 slave quarters.

earthquake, or to one located inland from Algiers which could have set in motion a
large landslide, which would be responsible in turn for the damage described. There
is also the possibility that the phenomena described from the point of view of Algiers
in the Rela¸am nova, e verdadeira (1673) are related to the aftermath of the 1672

Cabe¸o Gordo eruption (Fayal Island, Azores), which was also described by another,
very detailed, 1673 pamphlet (Rela¸am dos tremores de terra, e fogo

...

... , 1673).

4.3 The Unlikely Tripoli Earthquake of 1685

The background of the details mentioned by Suleiman et al. (2004) concerning a
possibly “unknown” 1685 earthquake in Tripoli is indeed authentic, but the story
itself appears questionable. For one thing, the present study discovered another
pamphlet (Tripoli, 1685a) that was printed in Milan and was purportedly based
on “a private letter addressed to His Serene Highness the Grand-Duke of Tuscany