The NW-SE-trending Dinar fault is an active normal fault upon which the 1 O
ctober 1995 earthquake (M = 6.1) occurred. The 1995 earthquake resulted in
a c. 10-km-long surface rupture with the south side down-thrown by less tha
n or equal to 50 cm. Investigations of two trench sites perpendicular to th
e 1995 rupture suggest at least two prior large earthquakes in historical t
imes. Radiocarbon dates and historical records constrain the age of events
between 1500 BC and AD 53, event 2 possibly coinciding with the earthquake
that damaged Dinar (the ancient city of Apamea Kibotos) in c. 80 BC and eve
nt 1 around 1500 BC. Surface displacements determined for events 1 and 2, c
ompared to the 1995 surface faulting, indicate that M > 6.8 earthquakes wer
e associated with each rupture. Using the total displacement in trenches, a
slip rate of about 1 mm yr(-1) can be estimated for the Dinar fault. Obser
vations suggest that the return period for large earthquakes in the Dinar a
rea is about 1500-2000 years.