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Short note on the contribution of newspapers and periodicals of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to the discovery of new historical earthquakes in Algeria

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Abstract

A great number of local newspapers and periodicals of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries contributed to the survival of information related to the earthquakes that occurred in Algeria during those periods. These documents which often relay the information from official institutions provide fruitful seismological accounts allowing a sound reappraisal of Algeria seismicity in terms of the estimation of macroseismic parameters. A recent systematic documentation on the Algeria seismicity revealed the occurrence of more than 650 earthquakes that were not reported in the previous seismological compilations, from 1844 onward, despite their significant number. In this paper we provide a quick overview on the newspapers and periodicals that existed at that time and from which fruitful information were retrieved and focus on the most significant events that we newly found. A careful analysis of the historical records allowed the estimation of the intensity of these earthquakes, which globally ranges from V to VIII EMS. These new results augment the seismological knowledge in Algeria and will certainly have implications for seismic hazard assessment.

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Acknowledgments

This research was conducted in the framework of the E007/08 CRAAG project. We acknowledge the anonymous reviewer for his corrections and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sismologie Historique/Etudes Sismologiques, Centre de Recherche en Astronomie, Astrophysique et Géophysique, BP 63, Bouzaréah, 16340, Algiers, Algeria

    Assia Harbi, Amal Sebaï, Yasmina Rouchiche & Radia Kherchouche

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  1. Assia Harbi
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  2. Amal Sebaï
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  3. Yasmina Rouchiche
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  4. Radia Kherchouche
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Correspondence to Assia Harbi.

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Highlights

• The importance of the periodicals and newspapers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in finding new earthquakes’ occurrence in Algeria

• Assessing macroseismic parameters (maximum intensity, macroseismic epicenter, macroseismic datapoints) of the events based on the new collected information and completing the earthquake catalogue of Algeria

• Importance of the obtained results and implications of the damaging events in seismic hazard assessment

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Harbi, A., Sebaï, A., Rouchiche, Y. et al. Short note on the contribution of newspapers and periodicals of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to the discovery of new historical earthquakes in Algeria. J Seismol 24, 1281–1289 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10950-020-09939-y

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