Reviewed by USGSTurkey119y ago
M6.3 earthquake 26 km ENE of Koyulhisar, Turkey
Tuesday, February 9, 1909, 11:24:05 UTC · 40.406°N, 38.098°E
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 26 km ENE of Koyulhisar, Turkey on Tuesday, February 9, 1909, 11:24:05 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.8 on December 4, 1905.
- Magnitude
- 6.3
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 15 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- VII
- Very strong (ShakeMap)
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquakeColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
44 kilotons of TNT
That is about 3 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 92 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
16 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Anatolian and Eurasian plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
15 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 100 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 2 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 11 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 20,617 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1859M6.1
Erzurum
2 Jun 1859 · 278 km away
15,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1784
Erzurum,Erzincan
23 Jul 1784 · 143 km away
5,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1893M6.7
Malatya
31 Mar 1893 · 235 km away · intensity IX
400 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1844
Osmancik, Ankara
12 May 1844 · 285 km away · intensity IX
200 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1852M7.3
Turkey
24 Jul 1852 · 278 km away
17 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)
- 1905M6.8
Puturge,Celikhan,Rumkale
4 Dec 1905 · 260 km away · intensity IX
Severe damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.