On October 11, 1138 a massive earthquake occurred in Aleppo, Syria. The 1138 Aleppo earthquake was among the deadliest earthquakes in history. Aleppo is located along the northern part of the Dead Sea Transform system of geologic faults, which is a plate boundary separating the Arabian plate from the African plate. The quake occurred on 11 October 1138 and was preceded by a smaller quake on the 10th. Ibn al-Qalanisi, recorded the main quake on Wednesday, 11 October 1138. He wrote that it was preceded by an initial quake on 10 October and there were aftershocks on the evening of 20 October, on 25 October, on the night of 30 October–1 November, and finishing with another in the early morning of 3 November.

The city suffered extensive damage, and it is estimated that 230,000 people were killed. As the city walls crumbled, rocks cascaded into the streets. Aleppo’s citadel collapsed, killing hundreds of residents. The city of Aleppo was no more than a pile of memories when it was over. The city was in a nest of fault lines so when it started it felt like the whole world was roaring in anger. You will hear people screaming and falling, stray children crying, looking for their parents, and the sound of some kind of monster coming up from under three thousand year old city.