Strong Medieval Earthquake in the Northern Issyk-Kul Lake Region (Tien Shan): Results of Paleoseismological and Archeoseismological Studies

A number of archeological monuments in the northern Issyk-Kul Lake region (Tien Shan) in the basins of the Chet-Koysuu and Chon-Koysuu rivers are studied. All monuments have undergone significant seismogenic deformations and destructions. A cromlech (7th century BC to 8th centuries AD) was displaced along the sinistral strike-slip fault. A kurgan (7th–13th centuries AD) was deformed in a front of the reverse fault scarp. A fortress (14th–15th centuries AD) was submerged beneath the lake water during the catastrophic subsidence of the coastal zone. We identify a zone of the seismogenic rupture. It is located along the Kultor border fault, which separates the Issyk-Kul depression and its surrounding mountains (Kungey Ala-Too Range). During the earthquake, the seismogenic reverse fault scarp was formed. A total of 1.6 m was offset along the rupture, which corresponds to an earthquake with М S ≥ 7 and seismic intensity of I 0 ≥ IX. Judging by numerous radiocarbon datings of submerged wood, which was used in building the fortress (end of 14th to the beginning of 15th centuries AD), the earthquake occurred in the 16th century AD and could have caused the decline of the Mogul civilization in the northern Issyk-Kul Lake region.

Перевод пока недоступен