Reviewed by USGSTurkey101y ago
M5.5 earthquake 31 km SSW of Kaş, Turkey
Friday, March 19, 1926, 00:28:27 UTC · 35.961°N, 29.458°E
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 31 km SSW of Kaş, Turkey on Friday, March 19, 1926, 00:28:27 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.6 on March 18, 1926.
- Magnitude
- 5.5
- Moderate · 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 75 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
3 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/5 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 6 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
21 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Aegean Sea and Anatolian 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 75 km
USGS lists 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.7 on March 24, 1926. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 31 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.115 km WSW of Burdur, TurkeyOctober 3, 1914 · 199 km N of this epicenter
- 6.815 km SSW of Kaş, TurkeyMarch 18, 1926 · 17 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.733 km SE of Karpathos, GreeceAugust 13, 1922 · 189 km W of this epicenter
- 6.452 km SSE of Fry, GreeceAugust 11, 1922 · 235 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.14 km SE of Megálo Chorió, GreeceAugust 11, 1904 · 272 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.126 km WNW of Yalvaç, TurkeyNovember 20, 1924 · 296 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.016 km NNW of Senirkent, TurkeyJanuary 16, 1918 · 270 km N of this epicenter
- 6.012 km N of Yeşilova, TurkeyAugust 7, 1925 · 186 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 18 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 6,727 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1914M7.0
Burdur, Kilinc, Keciborlu, Isparta
3 Oct 1914 · 219 km away · intensity IX
4,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1875M7.3
Capali, Dinar, Civril, Yaka
3 May 1875 · 247 km away · intensity X
1,300 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1899M6.7
Sultanhisar,Atca,Nazilli,Kuyucak,Denizli
20 Sep 1899 · 226 km away · intensity IX
1,117 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1863M7.8
Rhodes, Kos
22 Apr 1863 · 144 km away · intensity XI
300 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1904M6.1
Samos, Patmos
11 Aug 1904 · 296 km away · intensity X
4 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1869M7.5
Gulf Of Keramos, Mentese
1 Dec 1869 · 174 km away · intensity X
3 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.