Reviewed by USGSTurkey101y ago
M5.5 earthquake 18 km W of Tefenni, Turkey
Sunday, March 21, 1926, 22:04:43 UTC · 37.318°N, 29.562°E
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 18 km W of Tefenni, Turkey on Sunday, March 21, 1926, 22:04:43 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.5 on March 19, 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
2 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/7 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 5 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
108 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 75 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 30 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 · 63 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.03 km ESE of Soma, TurkeyNovember 18, 1919 · 266 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.815 km SSW of Kaş, TurkeyMarch 18, 1926 · 139 km S of this epicenter
- 6.733 km SE of Karpathos, GreeceAugust 13, 1922 · 287 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.14 km SE of Megálo Chorió, GreeceAugust 11, 1904 · 226 km W of this epicenter
- 6.126 km WNW of Yalvaç, TurkeyNovember 20, 1924 · 165 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.016 km NNW of Senirkent, TurkeyJanuary 16, 1918 · 131 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.012 km N of Yeşilova, TurkeyAugust 7, 1925 · 39 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 27 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 8,365 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1914M7.0
Burdur, Kilinc, Keciborlu, Isparta
3 Oct 1914 · 84 km away · intensity IX
4,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1875M7.3
Capali, Dinar, Civril, Yaka
3 May 1875 · 103 km away · intensity X
1,300 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1899M6.7
Sultanhisar,Atca,Nazilli,Kuyucak,Denizli
20 Sep 1899 · 93 km away · intensity IX
1,117 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1863
Suhut
1863 · 160 km away · intensity X
800 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1862M6.1
Turkey
16 Oct 1862 · 184 km away
800 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1863M7.8
Rhodes, Kos
22 Apr 1863 · 166 km away · intensity XI
300 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.