Temporal and spatial patterns of seismic activity associated with the Dead Sea transform (DST) during the past 3000 yr

Historical reports of earthquakes occurring before the twentieth century along the Dead Sea Transform (DST) are available for the past 3000 yr. Most of them are organized in various catalogs, reappraisals, and lists. Using a comprehensive and consistent compilation of these reports, the historical seismicity associated with the DST as a complete tectonic unit was examined. The compilation, supported by paleoseismic and archeoseismic evidence, resulted in 174 reliable historical earthquakes and 112 doubtful ones. The reliable earthquakes, along with 42 post-nineteenth century instrumental earthquakes, are an up-to-date evaluation of the DST seismicity starting from the mid-eighth century B.C.E. until 2015 C.E. Additionally, the scenario of historical earthquakes such as the 363 C.E. and 1033 C.E. events was resolved. The characterization of temporal and spatial patterns of DST seismicity, classifying them into four geographical zones, raised that most of the northern destructive earthquakes are clustered while clustering at the central and southern zones is less abundant.