Reviewed by USGSTurkey51y ago
M4.2 earthquake 3 km SSW of Solhan, Turkey
Friday, September 19, 1975, 12:00:35 UTC · 38.936°N, 41.033°E
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 3 km SSW of Solhan, Turkey on Friday, September 19, 1975, 12:00:35 UTC, at a depth of 86.0 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 4.2
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 86 km
- Intermediate
- 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: 50 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
30 tons of TNT
That is about 1/500 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 16 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
1 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Eurasian and Arabian plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: intermediate
86 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 50 km
USGS lists 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.5 on October 7, 1975. 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 99 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.820 km NNE of Erzincan, TurkeyDecember 26, 1939 · 165 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.918 km ESE of Pasinler, TurkeySeptember 13, 1924 · 133 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.813 km NNE of Sincik, TurkeyDecember 4, 1905 · 225 km W of this epicenter
- 6.814 km NE of Varto, TurkeyAugust 19, 1966 · 59 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.814 km ENE of Yedisu, TurkeyAugust 17, 1949 · 70 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.77 km ENE of Lice, TurkeySeptember 6, 1975 · 58 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.6TurkeyMay 22, 1971 · 34 km W of this epicenter
- 6.326 km ENE of Koyulhisar, TurkeyFebruary 9, 1909 · 300 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 50 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 67,467 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1939M7.8
Erzincan
26 Dec 1939 · 165 km away · intensity XII
32,700 deaths$20 million damagetsunami
- 1859M6.1
Erzurum
2 Jun 1859 · 110 km away
15,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1784
Erzurum,Erzincan
23 Jul 1784 · 157 km away
5,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1903M6.3
Malazgirt
28 Apr 1903 · 128 km away · intensity X
3,560 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1966M6.8
Varto
19 Aug 1966 · 57 km away · intensity IX
2,394 deaths$20 million damage
- 1975M6.7
Lice
6 Sep 1975 · 58 km away · intensity IX
2,311 deaths$17 million damage
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.