March 31, 1648 Earthquake: Van, Turkey

Date

March 31, 1648

Place

Van, Turkey

Tsunami

None recorded

Epicenter

38.300° N, 43.200° E

Country

Turkey

Deaths

2,000

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.

• 1444, Nemrut Mtns, Turkey30,000 deaths · 98 km
• November 24, 1976, Muradiye, TurkeyM7 · 5,000 deaths · $60 million · 111 km
• April 28, 1903, Malazgirt, TurkeyM6.3 · 3,560 deaths · 12,000 houses destroyed · 108 km
• May 6, 1930, Salmas, IranM7.1 · 2,539 deaths · 141 km
• August 19, 1966, Varto, TurkeyM6.8 · 2,394 deaths · $20 million · 175 km
• July 2, 1840, Maku, Mt Ararat, Aguri, Aralikh, Iran, TurkeyM6.7 · 1,049 deaths · 187 km
• April 18, 1843, Khvoy (Khoy), Iran1,000 deaths · 152 km
• May 31, 1946, Ustukran, TurkeyM5.9 · 840 deaths · 189 km
• January 5, 1896, Khvoy (Khoy), Iran800 deaths · 158 km
• October 23, 2011, Ercis, Van, TurkeyM7.1 · 604 deaths · $1.5 billion · 5,739 houses destroyed · 54 km
• September 10, 1941, Van, Ercis, TurkeyM6 · 430 deaths · 102 km
• July 29, 1945, Van,bolgesi, Turkey300 deaths · 24 km
• June 7, 1881, Van,nemrut, Turkey95 deaths · 24 km
• 1319, Ararat, Sini, Ani, St Thaddeus, Armenia, Iran75 deaths · 144 km
• May 13, 1924, Erzurum, TurkeyM5.3 · 50 deaths · 159 km

Significant earthquakes of 1648The 1600sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history

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 976.