Geophysical processes and biosphere: article

Аnnotation: The deformations revealed by us in the ancient buildings of Tsymyti village indicate very strong seismic oscillations. The displacement of a block weighing 25 tons against the slope of the relief indicates very strong accelerations of the soil – more than 1g. Thus, the local intensity of seismic oscillations is at least I׀׀ = IX–X points. In the walls of ancestral towers and burial crypts, it was possible to identify a significant number of extended interblock cracks, slopes and collapses of walls and their parts. Rotations of building elements and deformations of window openings are also revealed. The distribution of the slopes of the walls shows their general declination to the west. According to the same azimuth, the above-mentioned multiton block was ejected. The deformation of the win-dow openings also took place in the walls of the sublatitudinal orientation, i.e., possibly from the western direction. The age of the towers in Tsymyti has two periods: XV–XVI centuries. (use in the construction of dry masonry without cement) and XVI–XVII centuries (use of masonry with cement mortar). It is possible that the change in the type of construction was caused by a seismic event. The same earthquake, apparently, damaged the Dzivgis fortress, located lower down the val-ley of the Fiagdon River. The prostration of the outer wall of the fortress coincided with the direction of seismic oscillations (along the ENE–WSW axis), which approximately coincides with the sublatitudinal direction of seismic vibrations in Tsymyti. The first earthquake probably also damaged the Gutnov family tower in Dzivgis, built in the XV–XVI centuries. The tower was mostly repaired, and the cracks visible in the walls of the tower to this day appeared in it during the second earth-quake, which apparently caused the destruction of buildings in the Dzivgis village. The age of these buildings dates back to the XVIII–XIX centuries. The age of the necropolis in Tsymyti was deter-mined by archaeologists as the XVII–XVIII centuries. Heavily destroyed crypts, apparently – a consequence of the second earthquake in the region. The crypts that received minor damage are probably the result of the third earthquake. In Dzivgis, the third earthquake led to deformation of the metal cemetery fences of the XIX century, which was caused by a rockfall; this seismic event occurred after 1878. Additional field and desk studies are necessary for a more complete parameterization of ancient seismic events, as well as localization of ancient epicentral zones in certain structures of the crust of the region.