Reviewed by USGS89y ago
M5.1 earthquake in Turkey
Wednesday, April 27, 1938, 10:40:16 UTC · 38.808°N, 33.569°E
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck in Turkey on Wednesday, April 27, 1938, 10:40:16 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.5 on April 19, 1938.
- Magnitude
- 5.1
- 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
629 tons of TNT
That is about 1/24 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
243 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Anatolian and Eurasian 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 32 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.626 km NE of Kaman, TurkeyApril 19, 1938 · 87 km N of this epicenter
- 6.515 km ENE of İskilip, TurkeyJune 25, 1910 · 240 km N of this epicenter
- 6.125 km ESE of Safranbolu, TurkeyJune 9, 1919 · 267 km N of this epicenter
- 6.126 km WNW of Yalvaç, TurkeyNovember 20, 1924 · 238 km W of this epicenter
- 6.0TurkeySeptember 11, 1930 · 275 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.015 km S of Kulu, TurkeySeptember 26, 1921 · 48 km W of this epicenter
- 6.016 km NNW of Senirkent, TurkeyJanuary 16, 1918 · 275 km W of this epicenter
- 5.917 km NNE of Tosya, TurkeyJune 9, 1919 · 266 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 12 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 3,018 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1863
Suhut
1863 · 264 km away · intensity X
800 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1862M6.1
Turkey
16 Oct 1862 · 266 km away
800 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1866M7.2
Goynuk
12 May 1866 · 295 km away · intensity IX
675 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1835
Turkey
23 Aug 1835 · 171 km away · intensity X
300 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1938M6.6
Kirsehir
19 Apr 1938 · 87 km away · intensity X
224 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1844
Osmancik, Ankara
12 May 1844 · 263 km away · intensity IX
200 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.