Antioch earthquake
Quake and fire destroy a city packed with pilgrims
In May 526 an earthquake and the fire that followed destroyed Antioch, one of the Byzantine Empire's greatest cities. It was crowded with pilgrims for Ascension, and chroniclers put the dead at around 250,000.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 6th century
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Europe
- 536 Volcanic winter of 536 — 10 years later
- 537 Hagia Sophia consecrated — 11 years later
- 541–549 Plague of Justinian — 15 years later
Alive at the time
- Justinian I (aged 44)
- Aryabhata (aged 50)
- Theodora (aged 26)
- Khosrow I (aged 25)