Search

Abstract: This work deals with the seismic activity felt in Algiers in the 18th century through a review of the French archives. These sources contain additional information on the different earthquakes that occurred during the Ottoman period, and on other events not reported before. We estimate that 64% out of the 50 earthquakes listed in this study, including aftershocks, are newly catalogued. Some destructive events occurred within a radius of less than 100km. They strongly shook the capital. Among them, the famous earthquake of 3 February 1716 near Algiers, a series of earthquakes that occurred in 1722 causing the destruction of the town of Miliana (90km southwest of Algiers). In 1760, a large part of the town of Blida (40km south) was destroyed. The city of Medea (60km south) was also affected in October 1790 by an earthquake that was hidden by the historic Oran earthquake that had occurred 15 days before. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]