May 26, 1957 Earthquake: Abant, Turkey

Name: May 26, 1957 Earthquake: Abant, Turkey
Start: 1957-05-26
Location: Abant, Turkey

May 26, 1957 · M7.1 · 52 deaths

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Abant, Turkey on May 26, 1957 at 06:33:38 UTC, 25 km below the surface. It killed 52 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: May 26, 1957
Time: 06:33:38 UTC
Place: Abant, Turkey
Magnitude: 7.1 (Mw)
Focal depth: 25 km (16 mi)
Intensity: 9 on the Modified Mercalli scale
Tsunami: None recorded
Epicenter: 40.730° N, 31.090° E
Country: Turkey

The toll

Deaths: 52
Injuries: Many (about 101 to 1,000)
Damage: Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
Houses damaged: Very many (over 1,000)

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.

Reference #45 lists 66 killed

Reference #1138 lists magnitude 7.1 and 500 deaths (Note: significant discrepancy between this figure and death figure provided by other references)

Reference #1250 lists 53 deaths, 119 injured

Reference #10476 (v9.1): 1957 May 26 06:33:37.95 UTC, 40.73 N 31.09 E, magnitude 7.09 Mw, depth 25

Reference #1040:

North-westem Turkey; recorded at Istanbul. The villages around Lake Abant were destroyed; casualties at Abant and Mudurnu, 52 killed, 100 injured, 5,000 houses damaged; in Lake Abant, 3 islands appeared, then disappeared; damage at Bolu, a mosque destroyed at Chakcilar, 200 houses damaged at Seben, slight damage at Izmit, Adapazari, Bursa, Eskisehir, Ankara. The shock was felt as far as Edirne, Wakkale, Ugak, Antalya, Merzifon. The focus is situated near Lake Abant on one of the active sections of the great North Anatolian fault (Ocal, 1959~). Part of this section moved again in 1967, The macroseismic epicentre was at 40.6"N., 31.2" E.

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

Significant earthquakes of 1957 The 1900s Every quake the USGS located in 1957 Recent earthquakes near here This 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 4130.