Seismic Event Dossier•01:57 Local (23:57 UTC)(gerade eben)

Earthquake near
Erzincan, Turkey

A magnitude 7.8 (MW) earthquake occurred on 1939-12-26, 01:57 local time (23:57 UTC) (gerade eben), centered 19 km NE of Erzincan (Turkey). The hypocenter was located at a shallow depth of 20 km. Primary telemetry verified by USGS.

Historical Landmark Earthquake

#96 of All Time

Curated Global Seismic Archive (1700–Present)

Top-100 Earthquakes

Magnitude 7.8 historical earthquake occurring on 1939-12-26 in Turkey. Associated with the Unnamed Fault (Active Fault). Documented casualties: > 1,000.

Documented Fatalities> 1,000

Fault KinematicsActive Fault

Equivalent Energy7.56 Mt TNT

Magnitude

M 7.8

7.56 Mt TNT

Tiefe

20 km

shallow (Flache Kruste)

PAGER-Auswirkung

red

> 1,000 fatalities

Verletzte: > 5,000 · ~38.8M gespürt

Interaktive Karte von Epizentrum & Verwerfungen

39.91°N, 39.59°E

Verwerfung5 km

Unnamed Fault

Active Fault · ~15.0 mm/yr

Felt byMMI III+

~38.8M exposed

~11.9M strong shaking

Primary SolutionUSGS

USGS#iscgem902291reviewed

1 agencies reporting

Setting39.9°N

Turkey

Continental / Inland crustal

Seismic Activity & Aftershock Sequence

Timeline of foreshocks, main rupture, aftershocks and machine learning risk probability evolution.

Hover or tap a point to inspect aftershocks and risk probability curve.

<35 km (flach)35–70 km (mitteltief)>70 km (tief)Hauptbeben

Verified Disaster & Impact Assessment

Official emergency management data cross-checked against multi-agency wires

Continuous verification

Casualties

Damage assessment in progress

Tsunami Status

No tsunami threat

NOAA PTWC & regional buoys

Citizen Felt Reports

No felt reports submitted

Macroseismic DYFI verification

Aftershock Sequence

Monitoring

Aftershocks expected (Omori law)

LightGBM hazard model forecast

Agency Discrepancy Matrix (Cross-Network Verification)

Comparing multi-network solutions from primary and teleseismic monitoring agencies.

Network / Source	Magnitude (Scale & Diff)	Depth & Diff	Epicenter & Shift (Δd)	Consensus	Event ID / Data
USGS United States Geological Survey · Global / US	M7.8(Mw)Ref	20.0 kmRef	39.91°, 39.59°Origin	Authoritative	iscgem902291

Why do agency magnitudes differ? Seismological agencies use different instrumentation networks, crustal velocity models, and mathematical magnitude scales (e.g. Moment Magnitude Mw vs Local Richter ML vs Surface Wave Ms). Differences of 0.1–0.3 are common and reflect physical observation geometry rather than errors.

Where it was felt

6 Orte

Shaking intensity is modelled from magnitude, depth and distance (GMPE attenuation), not reported by residents.

Town	Distance	Intensity	Bevölkerung
Erzincan · Erzincan	19 km	MMI X	129,407
Gümüşhane · Gümüshane	63 km	MMI VIII	32,250
Tunceli · Tunceli	88 km	MMI VIII	29,062
Trabzon · Trabzon	120 km	MMI VII	764,714
Bingöl · Bingöl	138 km	MMI VII	80,568
Elâzığ · Elazig	140 km	MMI VII	271,492

Tectonic setting

Nearest mapped active fault: Unnamed Fault, 5 km away, slip rate ~15.0 mm/yr (GEM Global Active Faults).

Earthquake near Erzincan, Turkey