Reviewed by USGSTurkey103y ago
M5.6 earthquake 25 km NNE of Eleşkirt, Turkey
Tuesday, May 13, 1924, 01:52:36 UTC · 40.013°N, 42.785°E
A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck 25 km NNE of Eleşkirt, Turkey on Tuesday, May 13, 1924, 01:52:36 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.3 on February 20, 1920.
- Magnitude
- 5.6
- 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
3 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/5 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 7 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
184 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Anatolian and Arabian 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 9 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.3AzerbaijanFebruary 20, 1920 · 279 km NE of this epicenter
- 5.83 km W of Stepanavan, ArmeniaOctober 12, 1912 · 172 km NE of this epicenter
- 5.814 km SSW of Akhmet’a, GeorgiaApril 20, 1913 · 289 km NE of this epicenter
- 5.78 km N of Başkale, TurkeyApril 25, 1918 · 235 km SE of this epicenter
- 5.711 km NW of Ahlat, TurkeyJanuary 27, 1913 · 137 km S of this epicenter
- 5.65 km NW of Kelkit, TurkeyMay 20, 1905 · 289 km W of this epicenter
- 5.57 km ENE of Vurğun, AzerbaijanOctober 20, 1906 · 264 km NE of this epicenter
- 5.56 km NW of Kveda Chkhorots’q’u, GeorgiaAugust 29, 1907 · 287 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 29 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 28,018 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1859M6.1
Erzurum
2 Jun 1859 · 127 km away
15,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1784
Erzurum,Erzincan
23 Jul 1784 · 283 km away
5,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1903M6.3
Malazgirt
28 Apr 1903 · 104 km away · intensity X
3,560 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1840M6.7
Mt Ararat, Aguri, Aralikh; Iran: Maku
2 Jul 1840 · 142 km away · intensity IX
1,049 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1903M5.8
Varginis,Cardahli,Mehkerek
28 May 1903 · 99 km away · intensity VIII
1,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1843
Khvoy (Khoy)
18 Apr 1843 · 240 km away · intensity VII
1,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.