Reviewed by USGSTurkey101y ago
M5.3 earthquake 14 km ENE of Kaş, Turkey
Tuesday, March 23, 1926, 01:58:45 UTC · 36.232°N, 29.790°E
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 14 km ENE of Kaş, Turkey on Tuesday, March 23, 1926, 01:58:45 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.5 on March 21, 1926.
- Magnitude
- 5.3
- 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
2 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/10 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 3 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
63 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Aegean Sea and Anatolian 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 lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.7 on March 24, 1926. 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 34 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.115 km WSW of Burdur, TurkeyOctober 3, 1914 · 162 km N of this epicenter
- 6.815 km SSW of Kaş, TurkeyMarch 18, 1926 · 25 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.733 km SE of Karpathos, GreeceAugust 13, 1922 · 228 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.452 km SSE of Fry, GreeceAugust 11, 1922 · 275 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.14 km SE of Megálo Chorió, GreeceAugust 11, 1904 · 281 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.126 km WNW of Yalvaç, TurkeyNovember 20, 1924 · 256 km N of this epicenter
- 6.016 km NNW of Senirkent, TurkeyJanuary 16, 1918 · 232 km N of this epicenter
- 6.012 km N of Yeşilova, TurkeyAugust 7, 1925 · 154 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 8,327 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1914M7.0
Burdur, Kilinc, Keciborlu, Isparta
3 Oct 1914 · 182 km away · intensity IX
4,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1875M7.3
Capali, Dinar, Civril, Yaka
3 May 1875 · 211 km away · intensity X
1,300 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1899M6.7
Sultanhisar,Atca,Nazilli,Kuyucak,Denizli
20 Sep 1899 · 207 km away · intensity IX
1,117 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1863
Suhut
1863 · 264 km away · intensity X
800 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1862M6.1
Turkey
16 Oct 1862 · 292 km away
800 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1863M7.8
Rhodes, Kos
22 Apr 1863 · 163 km away · intensity XI
300 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.