Reviewed by USGSGeorgia108y ago
M6.0 earthquake 5 km NE of Ts’inandali, Georgia
Friday, February 20, 1920, 00:01:48 UTC · 41.926°N, 45.617°E
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck 5 km NE of Ts’inandali, Georgia on Friday, February 20, 1920, 00:01:48 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 6.0
- 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
14 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 29 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
494 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Eurasian 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 lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.3 on February 20, 1920. 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 6 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 5.83 km W of Stepanavan, ArmeniaOctober 12, 1912 · 147 km SW of this epicenter
- 5.814 km SSW of Akhmet’a, GeorgiaApril 20, 1913 · 41 km W of this epicenter
- 5.614 km WNW of Borzoy, RussiaJanuary 14, 1915 · 107 km N of this epicenter
- 5.57 km ENE of Vurğun, AzerbaijanOctober 20, 1906 · 89 km S of this epicenter
- 5.590 km ENE of Novokayakent, RussiaAugust 21, 1907 · 291 km E of this epicenter
- 5.324 km S of Terekli-Mekteb, RussiaAugust 10, 1912 · 225 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 19 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 5,104 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1902M6.9
Semacha; N Iran
13 Feb 1902 · 284 km away · intensity IX
2,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1840M6.7
Mt Ararat, Aguri, Aralikh; Iran: Maku
2 Jul 1840 · 268 km away · intensity IX
1,049 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1903M5.8
Varginis,Cardahli,Mehkerek
28 May 1903 · 269 km away · intensity VIII
1,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1830
Russia
9 Mar 1830 · 233 km away · intensity IX
410 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1899M5.6
Turkey
31 Dec 1899 · 179 km away
247 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1900M5.9
Kars,Karakurt,Kagizman,Digor
12 Jul 1900 · 278 km away · intensity VIII
140 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.