December 23, 1871 Earthquake: Quchan, Iran

Date

December 23, 1871

Place

Quchan, Iran

Magnitude

5.6

Focal depth

15 km (9 mi)

Intensity

7 on the Modified Mercalli scale

Tsunami

None recorded

Epicenter

37.300° N, 58.300° E

Country

Iran

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.

• October 5, 1948, Ashkhabad, TurkmenistanM7.2 · 110,000 deaths · $25 million · 87 km
• 1101, Khorasan, IranM6.5 · 60,000 deaths · 157 km
• November 17, 1893, Quchan, Mashhad, Bojnurd, IranM6.6 · 18,000 deaths · 14 km
• November 18, 1667, Shirvan, Shamkha, Iran12,000 deaths · 72 km
• July 30, 1673, Mashhad, Neyshabur (Nishapur), IranM6.6 · 5,600 deaths · 142 km
• August 20, 943, Nisa, Turkmenistan5,000 deaths · 78 km
• January 6, 1872, Quchan, IranM6.3 · 4,000 deaths · 0 km
• May 1, 1929, Kopet-Dagh, IranM7.2 · 3,800 deaths · 102 km
• February 22, 1852, Khabushan (NW Kuchan), IranM5.8 · 2,000 deaths · 24 km
• January 17, 1895, Quchan, IranM6.8 · 1,000 deaths · 24 km
• April 2, 1879, Bojnurd, IranM6.7 · 700 deaths · 83 km
• September 17, 1923, Bodzhnurd, Qaleh Jaq Kmen, IranM6.4 · 157 deaths · 54 km
• February 4, 1997, Bojnurd, Shirvan, Esfarayen, IranM6.5 · 88 deaths · $30 million · 5,500 houses destroyed · 98 km
• January 3, 1969, NE Khurasan Province, IranM5.5 · 50 deaths · 100 houses destroyed · 40 km
• August 21, 1928, Shirvan, IranM5.6 · 30 deaths · 80 km

Significant earthquakes of 1871The 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 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 2185.