Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A saga of the 1896 South Iceland earthquake sequence: magnitudes, macroseismic effects and damage

  • Original Research Paper
  • Published:
Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper describes Professor Ambraseys’s work on the quantification of magnitudes of the main events in the 1896 South Iceland earthquake sequence, using original teleseismic data recorded by primitive seismological instruments located in Russia and Italy. This includes an example of his original worksheets showing surface-wave magnitude re-appraisal along with the initial part of the parametric earthquake catalogue of Iceland. A brief description of the macroseismic effects of the earthquake sequence is presented. Earthquake damage to buildings in the most affected area is quantified as fractions of collapsed farmhouses. Spatial distribution of the quantified damage shows good correspondence to the estimated epicentres of the earthquakes of the sequence. The macroseismic effects of the earthquake sequence are described and compared to those of the South Iceland earthquakes in June 2000 and May 2008. It is argued that the magnitude estimate of the largest event of the sequence as obtained by Professor Ambraseys, based entirely on teleseismic measurements, is likely to be more accurate than other estimates based on the extent of the damaged area. This argument is supported by a discussion based on a comparison between the felt area, damaged area, and seismic moment estimates of the June 2000 earthquakes with the documented effects of the 1896 main shock. The observations and discussions presented here highlight the importance of Professor Ambraseys in the study of historic earthquakes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abe K (1981) Magnitudes of large shallow earthquakes from 1904 to 1980. Phys Earth & Plan Inter 27:72–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abe K (1994) Instrumental magnitudes of historical earthquakes 1892 to 1898. Bull Seism Soc Am 84:415–425

    Google Scholar 

  • Ambraseys NN, Melville C (1982) A history of Persian earthquakes. Cambridge Univ, Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Ambraseys NN, Free M (1997) Surface-wave magnitude calibration for European region earthquakes. Journal of Earthquake Engineering 1:1–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Ambraseys NN, Sigbjörnsson R (2000) Re-appraisal of the seismicity of Iceland. University of Iceland, Earthquake Engineering Research, Selfoss

    Google Scholar 

  • Ambraseys NN, Smit P, Sigbjörnsson R, Suhadolc P, Margaris B (2002) Internet-Site for European Strong-Motion Data. European Commission, Research-Directorate General, Environment and Climate Programme. http://www.ISESD.hi.is/

  • Ambraseys NN (2004) The state-of-the-art of long-term seismicity. Annals of Geophysics 47(2/3):335–338

    Google Scholar 

  • Ambraseys NN (2009) Earthquake in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Björnsson S, Einarsson P (1981) Jardskjalftar [Earthquakes]. In Nattura Islands, Almenna bókafélagi\(\eth \), Reykjavik

  • Engdahl R, van der Hilst R, Buland R (1998) Global teleseismic earthquake relocation with improved travel times and procedures for depth determination. Bull Seism Soc Am 88:722–743

    Google Scholar 

  • Gutenberg B, Richter C (1954) Seismicity of the earth and associated phenomena. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  • Halldorsson B, Sigbjörnsson R (2009) The Mw 6.3 Ölfus earthquake at 15:45 UTC on 29, (May 2008) in South Iceland: ICEARRAY strong-motion recordings. Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 29(6):1073–1083

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halldorsson P (2005) PREPARED—third periodic report, Icelandic Meteorological Office, Report 06008, VI-ES-05

  • Karnik V (1968) Seismicity of the European Area. Academia Press, Prague

    Google Scholar 

  • Linden NA (1959) O karte seismichnosti Arktiki. Moscow,

  • Mandl G (1987) Tectonic deformation by rotating parallel faults: the “bookshelf” mechanism. Tectonophysics 141(4):277–316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maps of Iceland. National Land Survey of Iceland http://www.lmi.is/en, 2013

  • Newby JR (1896) The earthquakes in Iceland 1896. J Manchester Geogr Soc 12:174–182

    Google Scholar 

  • Nilsson A (1943) Icelandic farm houses of later times. Historic Farms in Iceland - The Nordic Archeological Investigation in Iceland 1939 (in Swedish with English summary), editor M. Steinberger, Munksgaard, Copenhagen

  • Sigbjörnsson R (2002) Statistical analysis of damage. The 12th European Conference on Earthquake Engineering, London, Paper No. 123

  • Sigbjörnsson R, Olafsson S (2004) On the South Iceland earthquakes in June 2000: strong-motion effects and damage. Bollettino di Geofisica ed Applicata 45(3):131–152

    Google Scholar 

  • Sigbjörnsson R, Olafsson S, Snæbjörnsson JTH (2007) Macroseismic effects related to strong ground motion: a study of the South Iceland earthquakes in June 2000. Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering 5:591–609

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sigbjörnsson R, Snæbjörnsson JTh, Higgins SM, Halldórsson B, Ólafsson S (2009) A note on the M6.3 earthquake in Iceland on 29 May 2008 at 15:45 UTC. Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering 7(1):113–126. doi:10.1007/s10518-008-9087-0

  • Stefansson R (2005) PREPARED—second periodic report. Icelandic Meteorological Office, Report 05007, VI-ES-05

  • Stucchi et al (2012) The SHARE European Earthquake Catalogue (SHEEC) 1000–1899. Journal of Seismology. doi:10.1007/s110950-013-9335-2

  • Sykes L (1965) The seismicity of the Arctic. Bull Seism Soc Am 55:519–536

    Google Scholar 

  • Tams E (1919) Die seismischen Verhaeltnisse des Europaeischen Nordmeeres und seiner Umrandung. Mitteil Geogr Gesell Hamburg 33:37–67

    Google Scholar 

  • Tams E (1927) Die seismischen Verhaeltnisse des Europaeischen Nordmeeres. Gerlands Beitr z Geophys 18:385–397

    Google Scholar 

  • Thoroddsen Th (1899a) Jordskjaelvene i efteraaret 1896. Dansk Geogr Tidskr 14:93–113

    Google Scholar 

  • Thoroddsen Th (1889) Landskjáftar á Sudurlandi. Copenhagen,

  • Thoroddsen Th (1900) Jordskjaelvene i efteraaret 1896. Dansk Geogr Tidskr 15:93–121

    Google Scholar 

  • Thoroddsen Th (1901) Das Erdbeben in Island im Jahre 1896. Petterm Mitteil 47:53–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Thoroddsen Th (1925) Die Geschichte der Isländischen Vulcane. D Kgl Danske Vidensk Selsk Skrifter Naturvidensk og Matem Afd 8(RækkeIX):380–458

  • Tryggvason E (1955) Jar\(\eth \)skjálftar [Earthquakes]. Náttúrufræ\(\eth \)ingurinn 35(2)

  • Tryggvason E, Thoroddsen S, Thorarinsson S (1958) Greinarger\(\eth \) jar\(\eth \)skjálftanefndar um jar\(\eth \)skjálftahættu á Íslandi [The report of the Earthquake Committee on earthquake hazard in Iceland]. Tímarit Verkfræ\(\eth \)ingafélags Íslands 43(6)

  • Tryggvason E (1973) Seismicity, earthquake swarms and plate boundaries in the Iceland region. Bull Seism Soc Am 63:1227–1348

    Google Scholar 

  • Tryggvason E (1978) Áhrifastigi jar\(\eth \)skjálfta (Mercalli stigi samkvæmt lýsingum H.O. Wood og F. Neuman, 1931) [Earthquake Intensity Scale (The Mercalli Scale according to H.O. Wood, and F. Neuman’s Descriptions in 1931)]. In Jar\(\eth \)skjálftar á Íslandi 1930–1939 [Earthquakes in Iceland 1930–1939] (pp. 4–9). Reykjavík: Raunvísindastofnun Háskóla Íslands [Science Institute, University of Iceland]

  • Vanek J et al (1962) Standardisation of magnitude scales. Bull (Izvest) Acad Sci USSR. Geophys Ser (2): 108–111

Download references

Acknowledgments

Special thanks go to Puja Acharya for drawing maps presented in this paper. Furthermore, the extension of the analysis of damage and preparation of the manuscript was partially co-financed by the EU Civil Protection Financial Instrument, in the framework for the European project “Urban disaster Prevention Strategies using MAcroseismic Fields and FAult Sources” (UPStrat-MAFA, Num. 230301/2011/613486/SUB/A5), DG ECHO Unit A5.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland

    Ragnar Sigbjörnsson & Rajesh Rupakhety

Authors
  1. Ragnar Sigbjörnsson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Rajesh Rupakhety
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ragnar Sigbjörnsson.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sigbjörnsson, R., Rupakhety, R. A saga of the 1896 South Iceland earthquake sequence: magnitudes, macroseismic effects and damage. Bull Earthquake Eng 12, 171–184 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-013-9579-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-013-9579-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation