Reviewed by USGS108y ago
M6.3 earthquake in Azerbaijan
Friday, February 20, 1920, 11:44:40 UTC · 41.288°N, 45.632°E
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck in Azerbaijan on Friday, February 20, 1920, 11:44:40 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
- 6.3
- 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
44 kilotons of TNT
That is about 3 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 92 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
435 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 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 6 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.05 km NE of Ts’inandali, GeorgiaFebruary 20, 1920 · 71 km N of this epicenter
- 5.83 km W of Stepanavan, ArmeniaOctober 12, 1912 · 112 km W of this epicenter
- 5.814 km SSW of Akhmet’a, GeorgiaApril 20, 1913 · 82 km NW of this epicenter
- 5.614 km WNW of Borzoy, RussiaJanuary 14, 1915 · 178 km N of this epicenter
- 5.57 km ENE of Vurğun, AzerbaijanOctober 20, 1906 · 19 km SW of this epicenter
- 5.324 km S of Terekli-Mekteb, RussiaAugust 10, 1912 · 296 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 5,104 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1902M6.9
Semacha; N Iran
13 Feb 1902 · 258 km away · intensity IX
2,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1840M6.7
Mt Ararat, Aguri, Aralikh; Iran: Maku
2 Jul 1840 · 205 km away · intensity IX
1,049 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1903M5.8
Varginis,Cardahli,Mehkerek
28 May 1903 · 249 km away · intensity VIII
1,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1830
Russia
9 Mar 1830 · 290 km away · intensity IX
410 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1899M5.6
Turkey
31 Dec 1899 · 181 km away
247 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1900M5.9
Kars,Karakurt,Kagizman,Digor
12 Jul 1900 · 240 km away · intensity VIII
140 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.