August 21, 1928 Earthquake: Shirvan, Iran

Date

August 21, 1928

Time

19:02:17 UTC

Place

Shirvan, Iran

Magnitude

5.6 (Mw)

Focal depth

15 km (9 mi)

Intensity

8 on the Modified Mercalli scale

Tsunami

None recorded

Epicenter

36.893° N, 59.044° E

Country

Iran

Deaths

30

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.

• October 5, 1948, Ashkhabad, TurkmenistanM7.2 · 110,000 deaths · $25 million · 145 km
• 1101, Khorasan, IranM6.5 · 60,000 deaths · 99 km
• November 17, 1893, Quchan, Mashhad, Bojnurd, IranM6.6 · 18,000 deaths · 67 km
• November 18, 1667, Shirvan, Shamkha, Iran12,000 deaths · 141 km
• July 30, 1673, Mashhad, Neyshabur (Nishapur), IranM6.6 · 5,600 deaths · 70 km
• August 20, 943, Nisa, Turkmenistan5,000 deaths · 140 km
• January 6, 1872, Quchan, IranM6.3 · 4,000 deaths · 80 km
• May 1, 1929, Kopet-Dagh, IranM7.2 · 3,800 deaths · 178 km
• February 22, 1852, Khabushan (NW Kuchan), IranM5.8 · 2,000 deaths · 62 km
• December 23, 1871, Quchan, IranM5.6 · 2,000 deaths · 80 km
• January 17, 1895, Quchan, IranM6.8 · 1,000 deaths · 62 km
• April 2, 1879, Bojnurd, IranM6.7 · 700 deaths · 160 km
• September 17, 1923, Bodzhnurd, Qaleh Jaq Kmen, IranM6.4 · 157 deaths · 124 km
• February 4, 1997, Bojnurd, Shirvan, Esfarayen, IranM6.5 · 88 deaths · $30 million · 5,500 houses destroyed · 177 km
• January 3, 1969, NE Khurasan Province, IranM5.5 · 50 deaths · 100 houses destroyed · 105 km

Significant earthquakes of 1928The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1928Recent 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 3373.