M5.9 earthquake 14 km NW of Demirci, Turkey
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck 14 km NW of Demirci, Turkey on Sun, Mar 23, 1969, 11:08 PM GMT+2 (21:08 UTC), 14 km (9 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M6.8 10 km WSW of Kula, Turkey. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.9 (Mw, moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- ISC-GEM global catalog
- Local time
- UTC
- 1969-03-23 21:08:44 UTC
- Depth
- 14.2 km (8.8 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 39.122° N, 28.529° E
- Region
- Turkey
- Strongest shaking
- VI, strong shaking
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Deaths and damage
From NOAA NCEI’s Significant Earthquake Database (record 4479), matched to this event by time and place.
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
Shaking
The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.
- Strongest estimated
- VI, strong shaking
- Peak ground acceleration
- 26.0% of gravity
- Peak ground velocity
- 2.7 cm/s
- Map
- Automatic

Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.30
- Depth from
- From location
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.9 and up: 8 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.412 km NW of Demirci, Turkey · 21011 days ago · 15 km deep · 2 km away
- 5.213 km NE of Gördes, Turkey · 21009 days ago · 10 km deep · 16 km away
- 6.113 km NNW of Demirci, Turkey · 21009 days ago · 13 km deep · 6 km away
- 5.219 km WNW of Demirci, Turkey · 21009 days ago · 10 km deep · 7 km away
- 5.015 km NE of Gördes, Turkey · 21009 days ago · 10 km deep · 14 km away
- 6.810 km WSW of Kula, Turkey · 21007 days ago · 10 km deep · 68 km away
- 5.211 km WNW of Demirci, Turkey · 21006 days ago · 10 km deep · 4 km away
- 5.67 km NNW of Demirci, Turkey · 20973 days ago · 15 km deep · 8 km away
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Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event iscgem811440 (also filed as atlas19690323210844). Read Thu, Oct 1, 2026, 4:25 PM UTC.