October 18: The Earth Moves and a Town is Destroyed

On 18 October 1356, Basel, a town near the Upper Rhine Graben in Switzerland, was destroyed by a massive earthquake.

By most experts, it was believed to be the worse earthquake to happen in Central Europe in recorded history and would have registered a 7.1 on the Richter scale. According to the Swiss Seismological Service over 10,000 earthquakes in Switzerland have occurred over the last 800 years and only half a dozen half registered more than a 6.0 on the Richter scale.

Over the last decade many studies have been done to determine the exact starting location of the earthquake and the exact magnitude of it but the one thing that is for certain is the devastation of this natural disaster.

After a tremble around 7:00 pm, the main earthquake came in the evening around 10:00 pm. Multiple aftershocks followed into the next day.

The town of Basel was completely destroyed not only by the shocks from the ground but by the fires. The earthquake caused the torches and candles from people’s homes to fall and hit the ground which caused the wooden houses to catch fire. It is estimated that over 300 people died in the town of Basel alone and all major churches and castles that were within a 30 km radius were destroyed.

–Ryan Dickinson

Photo Caption: Karl Jauslin’s (1842-1904) impression of the Basel earthquake.

Meet the Author: Ryan Dickinson

I am 20 years old. I am currently in my second year at Schoolcraft College. I do not have a major yet but plan to transfer to a four year college and pursue coaching. I was born and raised in Michigan and I am the middle child of five. I love football and I am a huge Detroit Lions fan.

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Schoolcraft College Student
Categories: World History: Early Modern
Tags: geology, science, Switzerland

6 Responses

lauren badalamente says:

15 November 2012 at 9:09 am

Is major earthquake extending into France and Germany. These master earthquakes are common at the seismically active edges of tectonic plates, this is why switzerland has so many earthquake.

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wilker32 says:

4 December 2012 at 3:49 pm

The Basel earthquake of 18 October 1356 was the most significant seismological event to occur in Central Europe in recorded history and may have had a magnitude as strong as 7.1. This earthquake destroyed the town of Basel, Switzerland, the southern end of the Upper Rhine Graben, and much destruction in a France and Germany.
Even though major earthquakes are common in seismically plates in Turkey, Greece and Italy, earthquakes this destructive are rare in Central Europe According to the Swiss Seismological Service, more than 10,000 earthquakes in Switzerland over the past 800 years, only half a dozen of then have registered more than 6.0 on the Richter scale.
This main earthquake struck in the evening at around 22:00, and numerous aftershocks followed during the night between October 18-19. Basel experienced a second, very violent shock in the middle of the night. The town within a ramparts was destroyed by a fire when torches and candles falling to the floor set the wooden houses ablaze. The number of deaths within the town of Basel alone is estimated at 300. All major churches and castles within a 30 km radius of Basel were destroyed. This crisis lasted a year. The significant magnitude of the event suggests a possible extension of this fault under the town itself.
This earthquake is also known as the ‘Seisme de la Saint-Luc’, as 18 October is the feast day of saint Luck the Evangelist.

-Shari Wilke

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Aaron Dowd says:

5 December 2012 at 11:35 am

Not only was this earthquake a massive one, San Francisco had an similar earthquake in 1906. With a magnitude of 7.7, the earthquake was one of the most destructive. Because of how the ground moved, many gas lines under houses had broken which cause fires to come up almost out of nowhere. With a poor fireman staff, most of the firemen were order to contain the fires. They were told this because there were so many fires that they didn’t want other buildings to catch on fire and wasting water to put the fires completely out was just senseless,

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Joe C says:

8 December 2012 at 11:00 pm

The deadliest earthquake ever recorded was on January 23 1556 in Shensi, China. Earthquakes seem to happen all around the world but some times these earthquakes can become a mass genocides. This earth quake in china killed about 830,000 and it seems to me everything that couldve went wrong went wrong. The damages were consistant for around 270 miles from the epicenter. This quake had evry thing from ground fissures, to uplift, and even landslides. The cost of this damage is said to be imposible to measure in modern terms.

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Eden Gibbs says:

9 December 2012 at 10:21 pm

The richter scale was developed by Charles Richter in 1835. The invention was originally intended for the use of one study area in California. Mr. Richter wanted to use the scale to compare the size of different earthquakes. The original scale recorded no magnitude lower than three, therefore the original scale had no lower limit than that. Today seismologists have much more sensitive equipment and often record earthquakes with a negative magnitude.

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Breana Damron says:

9 December 2012 at 11:33 pm

In another of my classes, we’ve talked extensively about earthquakes, tsunamis, and other natural disasters. A more recent earthquake we talked about was the infamous quake at Prince William Sound in Alaska, USA. It’s magnitude ranges from an 8.4-9.2 depending on what information you look at (from the information I’ve looked at, about half say 8.4 the other half saying 9.2). The quake itself caused major damage, about $311 million in property damages, as well as 15 lives. The earthquake caused a tsunami which claimed the lives of another 113 people. These kind of occurrences are still worrisome today, which is why seismologists still try to pinpoint where earthquakes can happen. Natural disasters are a threat that can be unpredictable, and extremely dangerous. Places like California, and Iceland, along with many others, who reside on tectonic plates (earthquakes are usually formed when two plates collide, slide against each other, etc.) are places we can see the Earth’s most dangerous phenomena occur.

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