Earthquakes in Türkiye, 1927–2026
From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 96 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Türkiye. 21 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 7.8, twice: on December 26, 1939 (20 km NNE of Erzincan, Turkey) and on February 6, 2023 (Pazarcik earthquake, Kahramanmaras earthquake sequence).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded 4 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.
The latest: magnitude 5 on October 4 (21 km ESE of Feke, Turkey). The strongest: magnitude 5.1 on September 24 (20 km SW of Hilvan, Turkey).
What the record holds
The one on February 6, 2023 was the deadliest: NOAA records 56,697 deaths for it. 168 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 114 of the events here, 136,617 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 6.1 on August 10, 2025 (10 km WSW of Bigadiç, Turkey). NOAA lists 19 tsunamis that began in or off Türkiye, and one from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 5.3 m, on October 30, 2020. The deadliest, on August 17, 1999, killed 5 people here by NOAA’s runup records.
The events
- August 10, 2025Earthquake · M 6.110 km WSW of Bigadiç, Turkey · one death (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- February 6, 2023Earthquake · M 7.8Pazarcik earthquake, Kahramanmaras earthquake sequence · 56,697 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- October 30, 2020Tsunami · 5.3 m hereAegean SeaNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- August 17, 1999Earthquake · M 7.64 km ESE of Derince, Turkey · 17,118 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- August 17, 1999Tsunami · 2.5 m hereKocaeli, Turkey · 5 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- February 1, 1944Earthquake · M 7.610 km WNW of Orta, Turkey · 2,381 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- November 26, 1943Earthquake · M 7.56 km SSE of Ilgaz, Turkey · 4,020 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- December 26, 1939Earthquake · M 7.820 km NNE of Erzincan, Turkey · 32,700 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
Good to know
- An event counts for Türkiye when it began inside its borders, or at sea within 100 km of its coast (so one can count for two neighbours), or further out, up to 300 km, where Türkiye is the nearest country.
- USGS counts here start at magnitude 6: the catalogue’s smaller quakes thin out going back, where few instruments listened.
- NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
- Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
- A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
- The map frames the box around Türkiye, its neighbours’ quakes included, so its count runs higher than this page’s.
- Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.
How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history