M7.4 earthquake 52 km ESE of Tabas, Iran
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck 52 km ESE of Tabas, Iran on Sat, Sep 16, 1978, 7:35 PM GMT+4 (15:35 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 7.4 (ms), major
- Local time
- UTC
- 1978-09-16 15:35:56 UTC
- Depth
- 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 33.386° N, 57.434° E
- Region
- Iran
- Strongest shaking
- IX, violent shaking
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Deaths and damage
From NOAA NCEI’s Significant Earthquake Database (record 4815), matched to this event by time and place.
- Deaths
- 20,000
- Damage
- $50 million
- Houses destroyed
- 15,000
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
- IX, violent shaking
- Peak ground acceleration
- 126.7% of gravity
- Peak ground velocity
- 4.6 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.
- Depth from
- OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
- Stations used
- 197
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 4.4 and up: 17 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.633 km NE of Tabas, Iran · 17540 days ago · 33 km deep · 50 km away
- 4.833 km NNE of Tabas, Iran · 17540 days ago · 16 km deep · 63 km away
- 4.922 km NE of Tabas, Iran · 17540 days ago · 33 km deep · 48 km away
- 4.452 km E of Tabas, Iran · 17539 days ago · 33 km deep · 27 km away
- 4.750 km S of Tabas, Iran · 17539 days ago · 33 km deep · 54 km away
- 5.010 km NE of Tabas, Iran · 17539 days ago · 33 km deep · 51 km away
- 4.783 km NE of Tabas, Iran · 17539 days ago · 33 km deep · 83 km away
- 4.527 km ENE of Tabas, Iran · 17538 days ago · 33 km deep · 40 km away
- 4.735 km E of Tabas, Iran · 17538 days ago · 23 km deep · 21 km away
- 4.911 km N of Tabas, Iran · 17538 days ago · 33 km deep · 59 km away
- 4.430 km S of Tabas, Iran · 17534 days ago · 37 km deep · 52 km away
- 4.522 km E of Tabas, Iran · 17532 days ago · 33 km deep · 32 km away
- 4.540 km ESE of Tabas, Iran · 17517 days ago · 33 km deep · 13 km away
- 4.954 km ESE of Tabas, Iran · 17514 days ago · 15 km deep · 2 km away
- 4.524 km ESE of Tabas, Iran · 17491 days ago · 36 km deep · 30 km away
- 4.654 km ESE of Tabas, Iran · 17489 days ago · 11 km deep · 2 km away
- 4.614 km E of Tabas, Iran · 17489 days ago · 33 km deep · 39 km away
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Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0000wjx (also filed as gcmtd091678b, gcmt19780916153556, atlas19780916153556, iscgem676813). Read Thu, Sep 24, 2026, 11:32 AM UTC.