May 31, 1946 Earthquake: Ustukran, Turkey

Date

May 31, 1946

Time

03:12:46 UTC

Place

Ustukran, Turkey

Magnitude

5.9 (Mw)

Focal depth

15 km (9 mi)

Intensity

8 on the Modified Mercalli scale

Tsunami

None recorded

Epicenter

39.230° N, 41.374° E

Country

Turkey

Deaths

840

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.

• December 26, 1939, Erzincan, TurkeyM7.8 · 32,700 deaths · $20 million · 120,000 houses destroyed · 171 km
• 1458, Erzincan,erzurum, Turkey32,000 deaths · 112 km
• 1444, Nemrut Mtns, Turkey30,000 deaths · 93 km
• 1482, Erzincan,erzurum, TurkeyM7.5 · 30,000 deaths · 112 km
• June 2, 1859, Erzurum, TurkeyM6.1 · 15,000 deaths · 75 km
• 1268, Erzincan, Turkey15,000 deaths · 171 km
• July 23, 1784, Erzurum,erzincan, Turkey5,000 deaths · 169 km
• April 28, 1903, Malazgirt, TurkeyM6.3 · 3,560 deaths · 12,000 houses destroyed · 98 km
• August 19, 1966, Varto, TurkeyM6.8 · 2,394 deaths · $20 million · 17 km
• September 6, 1975, Lice, TurkeyM6.7 · 2,311 deaths · 101 km
• March 31, 1648, Van, Turkey2,000 deaths · 189 km
• October 30, 1983, Erzurum, Kars, Khorasan, Pasinler, Narman, TurkeyM6.9 · 1,342 deaths · $25 million · 141 km
• May 22, 1971, Bingol, TurkeyM6.7 · 995 deaths · $5 million · 89 km
• March 13, 1992, Erzincan, TurkeyM6.9 · 653 deaths · $750 million · 161 km
• October 23, 2011, Ercis, Van, TurkeyM7.1 · 604 deaths · $1.5 billion · 5,739 houses destroyed · 193 km

Significant earthquakes of 1946The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1946Recent 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 3825.