A major earthquake hits Syria, badly damaging towns such as Hama and Shaizar and structures such as the Krak des Chevaliers and the cathedral of St. Peter in Antioch.

One of the largest earthquakes to hit Syria occurred early in the morning of 29 June 1170. It formed part of a sequence of large earthquakes that propagated southwards along the Dead Sea Transform, starting with the 1138 Aleppo earthquake, continuing with the 1157 Hama, 1170 and 1202 Syria events.…