The 1956 Chim earthquake was a destructive multiple-shock event that occurred on March 16 in Lebanon along a strand of the Dead Sea Transform (DST) fault system.^[1] The epicenter was located in the south of Lebanon in the Chouf District. Six thousand homes were destroyed and another 17,000 were damaged. The number of persons killed was 136.^[2]

Quick Facts UTC time, ISC event ...

1956 Chim earthquake

UTC time	Doublet earthquake:
	A: 1956-03-16 19:32:43
	B: 1956-03-16 19:43:31
ISC event
	A: 888079
	B: 888080
USGS-ANSS
	A: ComCat
	B: ComCat
Local date	March 16, 1956 (1956-03-16)
Local time	21:32:43
Magnitude
	A: 5.3 Mw
	B: 5.5 Mw
Epicenter	33.78°N 35.58°E / 33.78; 35.58
Areas affected	Lebanon
Casualties	136 dead

Close

The DST is a 1,609 km (1,000 mi) long transform fault that runs in a mostly north-south direction from the northern end of the Red Sea along the Jordan Rift Valley to the Taurus Mountains complex in southern Turkey. The left-lateral fault zone marks the boundary of the Arabian Plate and the Sinai-Levantine block and consists of multiple parallel faults.^[3] As the fault moves through Lebanon and Syria the fault trace follows a restraining bend and splits into several strands that include the Serghaya, Rachaya, and Roum faults, as well as the prominent Yammouneh fault.^[4]

The Roum fault runs for a length of 35 kilometers (22 mi) between the Hula basin the Awali river and is the westernmost strand of the fault system in that area. A paleoseismic trench investigation revealed that it may have been the source of the twin-shock event.^[5]

The twin shocks were separated by less than fifteen minutes with the first event occurring at 19:32 and the second event at 19:43 hours.^[2] The initial shock was estimated to measure (M_w  = 5.3) and the second event was rated (M_w  = 5.5).

• List of earthquakes in 1956
• List of earthquakes in the Levant