January 2, 1863 Earthquake: Bulgavar (SE Ardabil), Iran

Date

January 2, 1863

Place

Bulgavar (SE Ardabil), Iran

Intensity

VIII, severe shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale

Tsunami

None recorded

Epicenter

38.100° N, 48.200° E

Country

Iran

Region

Middle East

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.

1. #1192 Berberian, Manuel (1977). Geological Survey of Iran, Tectonic and Seismotectonic Research Section, Report no. 40, Contribution to the Seismotectonics of Iran (Part III), Ministry of Industry and Mines, Tehran, Iran.

• November 18, 1727, Tabriz, Iran77,000 deaths · 167 km
• November 4, 1042, Tabriz, IranM7.6 · 50,000 deaths · 166 km
• January 8, 1780, Tabriz, IranM7.7 · 50,000 deaths · 175 km
• April 26, 1721, Tabriz, IranM7.7 · 40,000 deaths · 133 km
• June 20, 1990, Rasht, Qazvin, Zanjan, Rudbar, Manjil, IranM7.3 · 40,000 deaths · $7.2 billion · 100,000 houses destroyed · 166 km
• August 21, 1042, Tabriz, Iran40,000 deaths · 175 km
• February 5, 1641, Tabriz, Kurdistan, Iran30,000 deaths · 184 km
• December 27, 1779, Tabriz, IranM6.5 · 10,000 deaths · 132 km
• March 22, 1879, Bozqush, Ardabil, Gamrud, Tark, Manan, IranM6.7 · 2,000 deaths · 42 km
• 1664, Tabriz, Iran1,500 deaths · 166 km
• February 28, 1997, Ardabil, IranM6.1 · 1,100 deaths · $76 million · 12,000 houses destroyed · 13 km
• January 3, 1864, Lenkoran, Niar, Ardabil, Azerbaijan, Iran500 deaths · 18 km
• December 1863, Nir,ardabil, Iran500 deaths · 54 km
• August 11, 2012, Ahar, Haris, Varzagan, IranM6.5 · 306 deaths · $599 million · 123 km
• January 2, 1896, Sangabad (Senjabad), Iran300 deaths · 34 km

Significant earthquakes of 1863The 1800sRecent 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 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 2067.