Last 123 years' largest earthquakes in Turkiye

Turkiye and its surroundings have been jolted by 231 major earthquakes since 1900, when earthquake-recording instruments were first introduced in the country, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Criss-crossed by the North Anatolian, Eastern Anatolian and Western Anatolian fault lines, Turkiye once again faced its reality of its earthquake-prone geography when the powerful 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude tremors hit its southern region back to back on 6 February.

A total of 485 fault lines active throughout Turkiye can produce earthquakes of 5.5 magnitude and above.

Earthquake measurement and analysis are carried out by 1,145 stations of the country’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), which conducts disaster risk studies before, during and after earthquakes.

Turkiye and its surroundings have been shaken by 231 earthquakes with a magnitude of 6 and above at various times since 1900. Of them, 88 were magnitude 6.5, and above.

Twenty-three earthquakes were particularly destructive, with a magnitude of 6.5 and above resulting in the loss of many lives and much property.

Twin quakes

At least 45,089 lives have died due to the two quakes that shook the country last month.

Centred in Kahramanmaras, they impacted about 13.5 million people across 10 other provinces: Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Malatya, Adana, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa and Elazig.

As of 1 March, more than 11,500 aftershocks were recorded in the region.

1939 Erzincan quake

These most recent major earthquakes were the worst to hit the country since 27 December, 1939, when a 7.9 magnitude tremor jolted the province of Erzincan, about 330 kilometres (205 miles) north-east of Kahramanmaras.

Nearly 33,000 people died in the wake of that earthquake, while 100,000 others were injured and about 116,000 buildings destroyed. The 1939 Erzincan quake is considered one of the largest in the world.

Turkiye was hit by another major 7.6 earthquake on 17 August, 1999, rocking the north-western Kocaeli province, much closer to the country’s metropolis, Istanbul.

The death toll reached 17,840 people and 43,953 people were injured in the wake of the 45 seconds of shaking. This went down in Turkiye’s history as its longest earthquake on record.

It was followed just months later by a 7.2 magnitude tremor that shook Duzce province, just 112 km east, this time lasting 30 seconds, on 12 November, 1999.

Felt throughout a wide area as far as Ukraine across the Black Sea, it cost at least 894 lives, and led to the injury of 2,679 others. Like its precedents, thousands were left homeless in the aftermath of the quake.

Tremors shake Van, Elazig, Izmir

More recently, an earthquake of 7.2 magnitude rocked the eastern province of Van on 23 October, 2011. Centred in the small village of Tabanli about 30 km north of the city centre, lasted 25 seconds and led to the deaths of 601 people.

In the nearby province of Elazig, which was also affected by the most recent earthquakes last month, another strong tremor struck on 24 January, 2020, killing 44 people and injuring hundreds.

On 30 October, 2020, 117 people lost their lives and 1,034 injured in an earthquake that measured 6.6 on the Richter scale off the coast of the Seferihisar district of Izmir on Turkiye’s western Aegean Sea coast.

READ: Over 210,000 buildings destroyed or heavily damaged in wake of Turkiye quakes