Magnitude5.4

Reviewed by USGSTurkey76y ago

M5.4 earthquake 17 km N of Bayramören, Turkey

Tuesday, August 14, 1951, 18:46:05 UTC · 41.100°N, 33.195°E

A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck 17 km N of Bayramören, Turkey on Tuesday, August 14, 1951, 18:46:05 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.0 on August 13, 1951.

Magnitude
5.4
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 4 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

12 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Anatolian and Eurasian 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 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 62 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 17 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 8,916 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1943M7.5

    Ladik, Samsun, Havza

    26 Nov 1943 · 46 km away · intensity XI

    4,020 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)

  2. 1944M7.6

    Turkey

    1 Feb 1944 · 52 km away · intensity X

    2,381 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

  3. 1942M7.0

    Niksar, Erbaa

    20 Dec 1942 · 299 km away · intensity X

    1,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)

  4. 1866M7.2

    Goynuk

    12 May 1866 · 217 km away · intensity IX

    675 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

  5. 1943M6.4

    Hendek, Adapazari

    20 Jun 1943 · 234 km away · intensity X

    285 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

  6. 1938M6.6

    Kirsehir

    19 Apr 1938 · 183 km away · intensity X

    224 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

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