Reviewed by USGS99y ago
M5.4 earthquake northwestern Iran
Saturday, March 24, 1928, 10:53:26 UTC · 37.914°N, 48.546°E
A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck northwestern Iran on Saturday, March 24, 1928, 10:53:26 UTC, at a depth of 20.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.8 on November 8, 1924.
- Magnitude
- 5.4
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 20 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
397 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
20 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 4 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 19 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 180,418 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1727
Tabriz
18 Nov 1727 · 197 km away · intensity VIII
77,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1780M7.7
Tabriz
8 Jan 1780 · 206 km away · intensity IX
50,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1721M7.7
Tabriz
26 Apr 1721 · 162 km away
40,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1779M6.5
Tabriz
27 Dec 1779 · 162 km away · intensity VII
10,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1879M6.7
Bozqush, Ardabil, Gamrud, Tark, Manan
22 Mar 1879 · 58 km away · intensity IX
2,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1863
Nir,Ardabil
Dec 1863 · 83 km away
500 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.