Great Earthquake

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The Great Earthquake of Ilethes that occurred more than 2,000 years ago, despite being so called, was actually a series of 17 high-magnitude jolts in rapid succession along the Vassouri fault. The earthquakes, each measuring above 7.7 on the Earthling Richter scale (the strongest measured 9.5), lasted for almost 27 hours, and aftershocks of magnitude Richter 7.2 were felt even four days after the initial tremors, which sent shockwaves around the world. As far afield as Scenia, the Great Earthquake toppled buildings in quakes measuring up to the equivalent of Richter 8.4. Casualties were innumerable, and collations of estimates by historians of antiquity range as far from 900,000 dead at the most conservative to 6.4 million at the most liberal.

The Great Quake also resulted in the eruption of Mount Eramena in the Iryagi on Marcasia, the effect of which was felt around the globe: besides thick clouds of ash that remained in the air for nearly four months circling the planet, the average global temperature rose by the equivalent of almost 1.5°C, and persisted for more than a decade afterwards.

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