March 9, 1010 Earthquake: Turkey

Name: March 9, 1010 Earthquake: Turkey
Start: 1010-03-09
Location: Turkey

March 9, 1010 · Deaths: some

An earthquake struck Turkey on March 9, 1010.

Map

Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.

The earthquake

Date: March 9, 1010
Place: Turkey
Intensity: 10 on the Modified Mercalli scale
Tsunami: None recorded
Epicenter: 41.000° N, 29.500° E
Country: Turkey

The toll

Deaths: Some (about 51 to 100)
Damage: Moderate (about $1 to $5 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.

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

1010 Jan 6 to Mar 9. Turkey, Constantinople (reference #1055)

1010 Mar 9. 41 N 29.5 E, intensity 9. (reference #1149)

1011 Mar 9. Preceded by a strong foreshock in January, a destructive earthquake in the provinces of Byzantium caused great loss of life. In Constantinople a few public buildings and houses were destroyed. (reference #14000)

AD 1010-1012 Jan and Mar 09, Constantinople. A strong earthquake was felt in Constantinople, and probably caused great concern. There were aftershocks until 9 March, when a violent earthquake occurred […] There are considerable chronological difficulties with this earthquake […] As a result of this uncertainty, the full spread of possible years has been given, from 1010 to 1012 […] Cedrenus places this [March 9] event 'at the 10th hour', i.e. 4 pm, since the daytime hours were counted from 7 am and the night hours from 7 pm (cf. Cedr. ii. 500/232). This is an example of how eleventh-century information is blown up out of proportion by later chroniclers, e.g. Baronius says that according to Morigia the two earthquakes of 1010-12 killed a total of 200 000 people in Constantinople and other parts of the Empire. (reference #9116)

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

Significant earthquakes of 1010 The 1000s Recent earthquakes near here This day in weather history

Sources

Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 319.