January 28, 1872 Earthquake: Shemakha (Semacha), Azerbaijan
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck Shemakha (Semacha), Azerbaijan on January 28, 1872 at 07:00 UTC, 7 km below the surface. It killed 118 people.
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
- January 28, 1872
- Time
- 07:00 UTC
- Place
- Shemakha (Semacha), Azerbaijan
- Magnitude
- 5.7 (Ms)
- Focal depth
- 7 km (4 mi)
- Intensity
- 10 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 40.600° N, 48.700° E
- Country
- Azerbaijan
The toll
- Deaths
- 118
- Injuries
- 44
- 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.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
January 28, 1872, 40.6 n, 48.7 E, magnitude 5.7, intensity VIII-IX, Shemakha. 118 people killed, 44 injured (reference #223)
January 17, 1872, Caucasia, Shemaka, intensity II which corresponds to buildings may be unroofed or shattered and some may fall, the ground may be badly cracked in places and small landslips occur. (reference #1055)
January 28, 1872, 07:00, 40.6 N, 48.7 E, intensity IX-X, magnitude 5.5, Shemakha. (reference #3437)
The 1872 event killed 118 people and destroyed all but 20 buildings (Shebalin et al., 1982) (reference #14165)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- November 1667, Shemakha (Samaxi), Azerbaijan
- January 14, 1668, Shemakha (Semacha), Azerbaijan
- February 13, 1902, Semacha, N Iran, Azerbaijan
- June 11, 1859, Shemakha (Semacha), Azerbaijan
- November 25, 2000, Baku, Azerbaijan
- June 4, 1999, Agdas, Ucar, Agali, Azerbaijan
- June 5, 2018, Shaki-Zaqatala, Azerbaijan
- January 1, 1671, Shemakha (Semacha), Azerbaijan
- September 2, 1869, Shemakha (Semacha), Azerbaijan
- August 9, 1828, Shemakha (Semacha), Azerbaijan
- February 5, 2019, Shemakha (Semacha), Azerbaijan
- December 18, 1880, Semacha, Somaki, Armenia, Azerbaijan
- May 11, 2017, Ardabil, Iran, Azerbaijan
- January 2, 1842, Apscheron Peninsula, Azerbaijan
- May 1, 1885, Caucasus, Russia
More
Significant earthquakes of 1872The 1800sRecent earthquakes near hereThis 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 2187.