Reviewed by USGSTurkey85y ago
M6.2 earthquake 31 km NNW of Simav, Turkey
Sunday, November 15, 1942, 17:01:20 UTC · 39.364°N, 28.886°E
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck 31 km NNW of Simav, Turkey on Sunday, November 15, 1942, 17:01:20 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.5 on September 22, 1939.
- Magnitude
- 6.2
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 15 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
27 kilotons of TNT
That is about 2 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 57 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
142 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Aegean Sea and Anatolian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
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 76 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.225 km SE of Malkara, TurkeyAugust 9, 1912 · 214 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.115 km WSW of Burdur, TurkeyOctober 3, 1914 · 217 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.03 km ESE of Soma, TurkeyNovember 18, 1919 · 108 km W of this epicenter
- 6.730 km SW of Kumbağ, TurkeySeptember 13, 1912 · 205 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.59 km NNW of Bergama, TurkeySeptember 22, 1939 · 151 km W of this epicenter
- 6.4TurkeyMarch 31, 1928 · 170 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.39 km WNW of Marmara, TurkeyJanuary 4, 1935 · 186 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.223 km SE of Yenice, TurkeyMay 2, 1928 · 36 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 59 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 52,517 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1883M7.3
Ayvalik, Izmir, Cesme
15 Oct 1883 · 261 km away · intensity X
15,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1881M7.3
Khios; Turkey: Cesme
3 Apr 1881 · 260 km away · intensity XI
7,866 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1719
Turkey
25 May 1719 · 166 km away · intensity X
6,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1914M7.0
Burdur, Kilinc, Keciborlu, Isparta
3 Oct 1914 · 210 km away · intensity IX
4,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1766M6.5
Turkey
22 May 1766 · 160 km away · intensity X
4,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1912M7.2
Marmara Sea
9 Aug 1912 · 214 km away
2,800 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.