Earthquake Damage and Repair: New Evidence from Jerusalem on the 1927 Jericho Earthquake

摘要

On 11 July 1927 at 15:04, an earthquake struck Mandatory Palestine and its close surroundings, resulting in considerable casualties and damage (Avni, 1999). Recent studies estimated the epicenter at the north of the Dead Sea (Shapira et al., 1993; Zohar and Marco, 2012) and a magnitude of M_L 6.25 (Avni, 1999). Jerusalem, located nearly 30 km west of the epicenter, suffered greatly in the earthquake. Many of its structures were damaged, leaving several people killed, many injured, and a few hundreds homeless. The governing British Mandate commissioner responded quickly and almost immediately instructed the Public Works Department to initiate field surveys and to recommend necessary repairs (Avni, 1999). One of the strategies implemented for repairs was the use of a metal apparatus, referred to as iron anchor, to stabilize damaged structures and walls (Willis, 1927; Michaeli, 1928).