Reviewed by USGS98y ago
M6.3 earthquake in Turkey
Saturday, May 18, 1929, 06:37:55 UTC · 40.266°N, 38.096°E
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck in Turkey on Saturday, May 18, 1929, 06:37:55 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.0 on January 24, 1916.
- Magnitude
- 6.3
- 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
40 kilotons of TNT
That is about 3 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 83 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
2 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 12 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.018 km W of Doğanşar, TurkeyJanuary 24, 1916 · 67 km W of this epicenter
- 6.813 km NNE of Sincik, TurkeyDecember 4, 1905 · 240 km S of this epicenter
- 6.515 km ENE of İskilip, TurkeyJune 25, 1910 · 299 km W of this epicenter
- 6.326 km ENE of Koyulhisar, TurkeyFebruary 9, 1909 · 16 km N of this epicenter
- 5.920 km SSE of Artova, TurkeyApril 29, 1923 · 152 km W of this epicenter
- 5.89 km ENE of Akdağmadeni, TurkeyMay 28, 1914 · 190 km W of this epicenter
- 5.8TurkeyAugust 29, 1918 · 296 km W of this epicenter
- 5.712 km S of Başçiftlik, TurkeyAugust 19, 1919 · 80 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 14 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 20,981 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1859M6.1
Erzurum
2 Jun 1859 · 276 km away
15,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1784
Erzurum,Erzincan
23 Jul 1784 · 135 km away
5,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1893M6.7
Malatya
31 Mar 1893 · 219 km away · intensity IX
400 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1835
Turkey
23 Aug 1835 · 297 km away · intensity X
300 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1844
Osmancik, Ankara
12 May 1844 · 289 km away · intensity IX
200 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1929M6.5
Susehri
18 May 1929 · 18 km away · intensity VIII
64 deaths
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.