Reviewed by USGS93y ago
M6.0 earthquake in Turkey
Monday, November 12, 1934, 07:19:14 UTC · 38.302°N, 40.934°E
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck in Turkey on Monday, November 12, 1934, 07:19:14 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.9 on September 13, 1924.
- Magnitude
- 6.0
- 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
15 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 32 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
44 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Eurasian and Arabian 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 19 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.918 km ESE of Pasinler, TurkeySeptember 13, 1924 · 199 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.813 km NNE of Sincik, TurkeyDecember 4, 1905 · 201 km W of this epicenter
- 5.8TurkeyDecember 10, 1930 · 241 km NW of this epicenter
- 5.78 km N of Başkale, TurkeyApril 25, 1918 · 269 km E of this epicenter
- 5.711 km NW of Ahlat, TurkeyJanuary 27, 1913 · 139 km NE of this epicenter
- 5.716 km NNW of Ergani, TurkeyMay 19, 1915 · 110 km W of this epicenter
- 5.616 km E of Erzurum, TurkeySeptember 27, 1924 · 182 km N of this epicenter
- 5.65 km NW of Kelkit, TurkeyMay 20, 1905 · 246 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 21 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 24,522 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1859M6.1
Erzurum
2 Jun 1859 · 180 km away
15,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1784
Erzurum,Erzincan
23 Jul 1784 · 199 km away
5,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1903M6.3
Malazgirt
28 Apr 1903 · 162 km away · intensity X
3,560 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1893M6.7
Malatya
31 Mar 1893 · 230 km away · intensity IX
400 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1900M5.9
Kars,Karakurt,Kagizman,Digor
12 Jul 1900 · 290 km away · intensity VIII
140 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1934
Kurdistan: Diyarbakir (Mouche Diarbekir)
27 Nov 1934 · 76 km away
100 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.