Traces of the Strong Devastating Earthquakes in the Hansaray and Its Vicinity, Bakhchysarai, Crimea.

Abstract—We study an ancient earthquake that significantly damaged the Hansaray (Khansarai) in Bakhchysarai, Crimea, at the end of the 17th century. However, to date, the traces of this catastrophic event can barely be found in the Khansarai walls. Our studies have shown that this is mainly due to the numerous repairs and restorations which have been continuously conducted at the monument. It is only due to the fact that one of the objects of the Hansaray (the "Eastern Building") was plundered in 2013 that we were able to identify the internal structure of its walls and to reveal a clearly expressed seismogenic deformation of the brick arch which underwent a subsequent repair. In order to accurately date the seismic event, we carried out a search for the analogies, which revealed similar damage in the walls of the Eski-Durbe mausoleum, the monuments of the first palace of the Crimean khans in Salachik (Zincirli medrese and Haci Giray durbe mausoleum) and the Great Kenassa of the Chufut-Kale fortress. By comparing the chronology of the Eastern Structure and other monuments and the peculiarities of their seismic deformations, we correlated the damage of these structures to the Salachik earthquake of April 30, 1698, whose epicentral area was located in the West Crimean seismogenic zone and which had local intensity in the Bakhchysarai region Il = VIII–IX (on MSK-64 scale). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]