List of earthquakes in Turkey

Map of plate boundaries affecting Turkey

This is a list of earthquakes in Turkey, including any notable historical earthquakes that have epicenters within the current boundaries of Turkey, or which caused significant effects in this area. This list is incomplete.

1509

1957

1998

1943

1914

526

1983

2003

1944

1855

1976

1268

1935

1999

2010

1935

1971

1939

1992

1970

1930

1952

1688

1999

1926

1938

1951

1975

1903

1967

1912

1942

1943

1941

1966

1953

2011

2011

Location of major earthquakes in Turkey with year of occurrence

Tectonic setting

Turkey is a seismically active area within the complex zone of collision between the Eurasian Plate and both the African and Arabian Plates. Much of the country lies on the Anatolian Plate, a small plate bounded by two major strike-slip fault zones, the North Anatolian Fault and East Anatolian Fault. The western part of the country is also affected by the zone of extensional tectonics in the Aegean Sea caused by the southward migration of the Hellenic arc. The easternmost part of Turkey lies on the western end of the Zagros fold and thrust belt, which is dominated by thrust tectonics.

Seismic hazard

Seismic hazard for Turkey from the Global Seismic Hazard Assessment Program (GSHAP) in terms of peak ground acceleration with a 10% chance of being exceeded (or a 90% chance of not being exceeded) within the next 50 years

Seismic hazard in Turkey is highest along the plate boundaries, but there is a significant risk of damaging earthquakes almost anywhere in the country.

List of notable earthquakes

Date	Time‡	Place	Latitude	Longitude	Fatalities	Magnitude	Comments	Sources
17 CE	n/a	Alaşehir see Alaşehir earthquake	38.21	28.31	n/a	n/a	n/a	[1]
December 13, 115		Antioch see 115 Antioch earthquake	36.1	36.1	~260,000	7.5	Ms	[2]
141 (or 142)		Lycia, Caria, Dodecanese see 141 Lycia earthquake	36.7	28.0	n/a	VIII	Triggered a severe tsunami that caused inundation at Rhodes	[3]
May 19, 526		Antioch see 526 Antioch earthquake			250,000	VIII	The city of Antioch was greatly damaged, and some decades later the city's population was just 300,000.	[4]
December 14, 557	just before midnight	Constantinople see 557 Constantinople earthquake	40.9	28.7	n/a	X (Intense)	Constantinople was "almost completely razed to the ground" by the earthquake.	[5]
1268		Cilicia, Anatolia see 1268 Cilicia earthquake	37.5	35.5	60,000	~7		–
September 10, 1509		Constantinople see 1509 Constantinople earthquake	40.9	28.7	10,000	7.2	Mw	–
February 23, 1653		Smyrna see 1653 East Smyrna earthquake	38.2	28.2	2,500	7.5		[6]
August 17, 1668		Anatolia	40	36	8,000	8		USGS
July 10, 1688	11:45	Smyrna see 1688 Smyrna earthquake	38.4	26.9	16,000	7.0	Ms	[7]
February 28, 1855	01:00	Bursa see 1855 Bursa earthquake	40.2	29.1	1,900	6.7		[8]
June 2, 1859	10:30	Erzurum see 1859 Erzurum earthquake	39.9	41.3	15,000	6.1	Ms	[9]
April 3, 1881	11:30	Chios, Çeşme, Alaçatı see 1881 Chios earthquake	38.25	26.25	7,866	7.3	Mw	[10]
July 10, 1894	12:24	Gulf of Izmit see 1894 Istanbul earthquake	40.73	29.25	1,300	7.0		[11]
April 29, 1903	01:46 local time	Malazgirt see 1903 Malazgirt earthquake	39.14	42.65	600	6.7	Ms	[12][13]
August 9, 1912	03:29 local time	Mürefte see 1912 Mürefte earthquake	40.75	27.2	216	7.3	MS	[12][13]
October 4, 1914	00:07 local time	Burdur see 1914 Burdur earthquake	37.82	30.27	300	6.9	MS	[12][13]
September 13, 1924	16:34 local time	Horasan see 1924 Pasinler earthquake	40.0	42.1	60	6.8	Ms	[12][13]
October 22, 1926	21:59 local time	Kars see 1926 Kars earthquake	40.7	43.7	360	6.0	Ms	[14]
March 31, 1928	02:29 local time	Smyrna	38.5	28.0	50	6.5	MS Possible M=6.2 foreshock previous day	[12][13]
May 18, 1929	08:37 local time	Suşehri	40.2	37.9	64	6.1	Ms	[12][13]
May 7, 1930	00:34 local time	Hakkâri see 1930 Salmas earthquake	38.1	44.7	2,514	7.2–7.5	Ms	[15]
January 4, 1935	16:41 local time	Erdek	40.4	27.5	5	6.4	Ms	[12][13]
April 19, 1938	12:59 local time	Kırşehir	39.1	34.0	160	6.6	MS	[12][13]
September 22, 1939	02:36 local time	Dikili	39.1	26.8	60	6.6	MS	[12][13]
December 26, 1939	23:57	Erzincan see 1939 Erzincan earthquake	39.77	39.53	32,700	7.8	MS	USGS
November 15, 1942	19:01 local time	Bigadiç	39.2	28.2	16	6.1	MS	[12][13]
December 20, 1942	14:03	Erbaa see North Anatolian Fault	40.87	36.47	3000	7.0		[16]
June 20, 1943	17:32 local time	Hendek	40.6	30.5	336	6.6	MS	[12][13]
November 26, 1943	22:24	Ladik see North Anatolian Fault	41.05	33.72	4000	7.4		[16]
February 1, 1944	03:25	Gerede see North Anatolian Fault	40.8	32.2	3959	7.5		[16]
October 6, 1944	04:34 local time	Ayvalık	39.37	26.53	30	6.8	MS	[12][13]
August 17, 1949		Karlıova see North Anatolian Fault	39.54	40.57	450	6.8		[16]
August 13, 1951	18:36	Kurşunlu see North Anatolian Fault	40.88	32.87	50	6.9		[16]
March 18, 1953	21:06 local time	Yenice	40.02	27.53	265	7.2	MS	[12][13]
July 16, 1955	09:07 local time	Söke	37.55	27.05	23	6.8	MS	[12][13]
April 25, 1957	04:25 local time	Fethiye	36.5	28.6	67	7.1	MS	[12][13]
May 26, 1957	6:36	Abant see North Anatolian Fault	40.67	31.00	52	7.1		[16]
October 6, 1964	16:31 local time	Manyas	40.1	27.93	23	7.0	MS	[12][13]
August 19, 1966	12:23	Varto see Varto earthquake	39.17	41.56	2396	6.7		[16]
July 22, 1967	16:56	Mudurnu see North Anatolian Fault	40.67	30.69	89	7.2		[16]
September 3, 1968	10:19 local time	Bartın	41.79	32.31	29	6.5	MS	[12][13]
March 28, 1969	03:48 local time	Alaşehir	38.5	28.4	53	6.5	MS	[12][13]
March 28, 1970	23:02 local time	Gediz see Gediz earthquake	39.2	29.5	1086	7.2	MS	[12][13]
May 22, 1971	16:44	Bingöl see North Anatolian Fault	38.83	40.52	1000+	6.9		[17]
September 6, 1975	12:20 local time	Lice	38.5	40.7	2385	6.6	MS	[12][13]
November 24, 1976	14:22 local time	Muradiye see 1976 Çaldıran-Muradiye earthquake	39.12	44.03	3840	7.5	MS	[12][13]
October 30, 1983	07:12 local time	Erzurum	40.33	42.19	1155	6.9	MS	[12][13]
March 13, 1992	17.18	Erzincan see North Anatolian Fault	39.70	39.69	498	6.8		[18]
October 1, 1995	17:57 local time	Dinar see 1995 Dinar earthquake	38.06	30.13	90	6.1	MS	[12][13]
June 27, 1998	16:55 local time	Ceyhan see Adana–Ceyhan earthquake	36.88	35.31	146	6.2	MS	[12][13]
August 17, 1999	03:02 local time	Izmit see Izmit earthquake	40.77	30	17,127	7.6	M (PDE Monthly Listing) An official Turkish estimate of October 19, 1999, placed the toll at 17,127 killed and 43,959 injured, but many sources suggest the actual figure may have been closer to 45,000 dead and a similar number injured.[19]	USGS
November 12, 1999	18:57 local time	Düzce see Düzce earthquake	40.75	31.16	894	7.2	M (PDE Monthly Listing)	USGS
February 3, 2002	07:11	Afyon	38.573	31.271	44	6.5	Mw (HRV)	[20]
January 27, 2003	05:26	Pülümür	39.46	39.79	1	6.1	Mw (HRV, USGS)	USGS
May 1, 2003	00:27	Bingöl see Bingöl earthquake	39.01	40.46	177	6.4	Mw (HRV, USGS)	[21]
March 8, 2010	02:32	Elâzığ see 2010 Elâzığ earthquake	38.87	39.99	41	6.1	Mw (HRV)	[22]
May 19, 2011	23:15	Kütahya Province see 2011 Kütahya earthquake	39.14	29.07	2	5.8	Mw (HRV)	[23]
October 23, 2011	13:41	Van Province see 2011 Van earthquake	38.63	43.49	604	7.2	Mw (HRV)	[24]

See also

• Geology of Turkey

References

1. The Internet Classics Archive. "Tacitus Annales Book 2, 47". Retrieved 21 June 2013.
2. National Geophysical Data Center. "Comments for the Significant Earthquake". Retrieved 19 October 2011.
3. "Comments for the tsunami event". Significant Earthquake Database. National Geophysical Data Center. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
4. Procopius, II.14.6; sources based on John of Ephesus
5. Agathias; Frendo, Joseph D. (1975), The histories, Walter de Gruyter, ISBN 978-3-11-003357-1
6. NGDC. "Comments for the 1653 Earthquake". Retrieved 1 February 2011.
7. NGDC. "Comments for the 1688 Earthquake". Retrieved 1 February 2011.
8. NGDC. "Comments for the 1855 Earthquake". Retrieved 2 February 2011.
9. NGDC. "Comments for the 1859 Earthquake". Retrieved 1 February 2011.
10. NGDC. "Comments for the 1881 Earthquake". Retrieved 2 February 2011.
11. Ambraseys, N. (January 2001). "The earthquake of 10 July 1894 in the Gulf of Izmit (Turkey) and its relation to the earthquake of 17 August 1999". Journal of Seismology (Kluwer Academic Publishers) 5 (1): 117–128. doi:10.1023/A:1009871605267. ISSN 1573-157X.
12. Bogazici University Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute National Earthquake Monitoring Center (NEMC) List of earthquakes 1900-2004 (In Turkish)
13. IISEENET (Information Network of Earthquake disaster Prevention Technologies) - Search Page
14. NGDC. "Comments for the 1926 Earthquake". Retrieved 3 February 2011.
15. NGDC. "Comments for the 1930 Earthquake". Retrieved 3 February 2011.
16. Toksoz, M.N., Shakal, A.F. & Michael, A.J. 1979. Space-Time Migration of Earthquakes Along the North Anatolian Fault Zone and Seismic Gaps. Pageophys, 117, 1258-1270.
17. USGS list of earthquakes with 1,000 or More Deaths since 1900
18. Bernard, P., Gariel, J-C. & Dorbath L. 1997. Fault location and rupture kinematics of the magnitude 6.8, 1992 Erzincan earthquake, Turkey, from strong ground motion and regional records. Bulletin Seismological Society of America, 87, 1230-1243.
19. Marza, Vasile I. (2004). "On the death toll of the 1999 Izmit (Turkey) major earthquake" (PDF). ESC General Assembly Papers, Potsdam: European Seismological Commission.
20. USGS. "Significant Earthquakes of the World 2002".
21. USGS. "Significant Earthquakes of the World 2003".
22. USGS. "Magnitude 6.1 - eastern Turkey".
23. USGS. "Magnitude 5.8 - WESTERN TURKEY".
24. USGS. "Magnitude 7.2 - EASTERN TURKEY".