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Seismic Deformations in the Archaeological Sites of Varna, Bulgaria

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Abstract—The ruins of Odessos are located on the territory of Varna, Bulgaria. Archaeoseismological studies carried out at the archaeological sites of ancient Odessos revealed some significant damage and destruction in the ancient building constructions. These are numerous breaks, tilts, protrusions and turns of wall parts, longitudinal asymmetric deformation of the above-entrance arch, lateral in plan bending of the extended wall, outward knock-out of the stone blocks and intensive cracking. We attributed traces of subsequent shoddy repairs, which sometimes involved using single expensive stone blocks taken out of the ruins, as circumstantial evidence of strong earthquakes that had occurred here. Interestingly, medieval builders already knew about the possibility of strong earthquakes in the region and put wooden longitudinal beams in the walls to absorb vertical seismic vibrations. The degree of destruction and damage in medieval buildings built on loose fill soils increased due to subsidence. Archaeological research established 6 periods of construction in ancient Odessos: Using this periodization, we calculated the age of past seismic events: (1) around the 1st century A.D.—the destruction of the Late Hellenistic fortress wall; (2) the early 5th century—the early 6th century (a cluster of at least 3 strong earthquakes, judging also by deformations in the Bishop’s Basilica of Odessos (Minchev et al., 2020)): dismantling of the fortress wall, discontinued use of both thermae. The gate of Odessos remains in operation after repairs. There is low quality construction of houses. Accumulation of tile debris; (3) the destruction of the Orthodox church in the 1444 earthquake. We were able to determine the average direction of the maximum aggregate seismic movements that destroyed the large and small thermae, as well as the excavated segment of the fortress wall and the Odessos gate complex. They propagated along the WNW-ESE axis, most likely from the Shabla-Kaliakra seismogenic zone. The deformations of the 13th-century Orthodox church were caused by seismic vibrations that propagated in the submeridional direction from one of the seismically active faults south or north of Varna, although they may have been affected by ground subsidence. Thus, as a result of the studies, we were able to detect traces of yet unknown strong earthquakes, to determine their age and direction to the ancient epicentral zones. The intensity of seismic vibrations during all these earthquakes was Il = VIII—IX MSK-64. The data obtained can be used to improve the seismic hazard assessment of Varna and NE Bulgaria.

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Funding

The research was financially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, grant no. 18-55-18014 Bolg_a “Study of the aftermath of strong earthquakes in the coastal zones of Bulgaria and the Taman Peninsula of the Western Caucasus (from historical, archaeological and paleoseismic data) to make a new seismic hazard assessment in these regions” (the scientific advisors: from Bulgaria—Prof. O.V. Dimitrov, from Russia—Prof. E.A. Rogozhin). The office processing of the obtained materials was financially supported by the Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth, RAS, as part of the institute’s basic research program. The work was also supported by contracts (a) DNTS/Russia02/20 (27.06.2018)–(b)18-55-18014 Bulgaria and the National Scientific Program “Environmental protection and risk mitigation of adverse events and natural disasters,” approved by the Bulgarian Council of Ministers’ Resolution No. 577/17.08.2018 and supported by the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science (Agreement No. D01-230/06.12.2018).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Oceanology “Fridtjof Nansen”, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 9000, Varna, Bulgaria

    O. V. Dimitrov

  2. Department of Architecture, Varna Free University “Chernorizets Hrabar”, 9007, Varna, Bulgaria

    K. Z. Vacheva

  3. Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences, 123242, Moscow, Russia

    A. M. Korzhenkov, A. S. Larkov, A. N. Ovsuchenko, E. A. Rogozhin & A. A. Strelnikov

  4. Varna Regional Museum of History, 9000, Varna, Bulgaria

    Chr. Kouzov

  5. University of Mining and Geology, Saint Ivan Rilski, 1700, Sofia, Bulgaria

    B. K. Ranguelov

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  1. O. V. Dimitrov
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  2. K. Z. Vacheva
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  3. A. M. Korzhenkov
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  4. Chr. Kouzov
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  5. A. S. Larkov
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  6. A. N. Ovsuchenko
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  7. B. K. Ranguelov
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  8. E. A. Rogozhin
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  9. A. A. Strelnikov
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to O. V. Dimitrov, K. Z. Vacheva, A. M. Korzhenkov, Chr. Kouzov, A. S. Larkov, A. N. Ovsuchenko, B. K. Ranguelov, E. A. Rogozhin or A. A. Strelnikov.

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Dimitrov, O.V., Vacheva, K.Z., Korzhenkov, A.M. et al. Seismic Deformations in the Archaeological Sites of Varna, Bulgaria. Izv., Phys. Solid Earth 58, 127–147 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1069351322010013

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