Reviewed by USGSTurkey50y ago
M4.5 earthquake 50 km NE of Özalp, Turkey
Saturday, December 25, 1976, 22:19:10 UTC · 39.026°N, 44.330°E
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 50 km NE of Özalp, Turkey on Saturday, December 25, 1976, 22:19:10 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.8 on December 12, 1976.
- Magnitude
- 4.5
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 33 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
85 tons of TNT
That is about 1/178 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 6 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
175 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
33 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 50 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 102 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.347 km S of Doğubayazıt, TurkeyNovember 24, 1976 · 28 km W of this epicenter
- 7.110 km SSW of Salmās, IranMay 6, 1930 · 108 km S of this epicenter
- 6.918 km ESE of Pasinler, TurkeySeptember 13, 1924 · 234 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.814 km NE of Varto, TurkeyAugust 19, 1966 · 240 km W of this epicenter
- 6.414 km S of Hats’avan, ArmeniaApril 27, 1931 · 145 km E of this epicenter
- 6.3AzerbaijanFebruary 20, 1920 · 275 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.314 km N of Karlıova, TurkeyAugust 20, 1966 · 290 km W of this epicenter
- 6.213 km SE of Khowy, IranMay 8, 1930 · 89 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 59 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 215,779 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1727
Tabriz
18 Nov 1727 · 206 km away · intensity VIII
77,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1780M7.7
Tabriz
8 Jan 1780 · 199 km away · intensity IX
50,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1721M7.7
Tabriz
26 Apr 1721 · 241 km away
40,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1859M6.1
Erzurum
2 Jun 1859 · 278 km away
15,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1779M6.5
Tabriz
27 Dec 1779 · 236 km away · intensity VII
10,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1976M7.0
Muradiye
24 Nov 1976 · 26 km away · intensity X
5,000 deaths$60 million damage
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.