March 7, 1966 Earthquake: Varto, Mus, Turkey

Date

March 7, 1966

Time

01:16:00 UTC

Place

Varto, Mus, Turkey

Magnitude

6

Focal depth

38 km (24 mi)

Intensity

8 on the Modified Mercalli scale

Tsunami

None recorded

Epicenter

39.100° N, 41.600° E

Country

Turkey

Deaths

10

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.

• December 26, 1939, Erzincan, TurkeyM7.8 · 32,700 deaths · $20 million · 120,000 houses destroyed · 195 km
• 1458, Erzincan,erzurum, Turkey32,000 deaths · 136 km
• 1444, Nemrut Mtns, Turkey30,000 deaths · 68 km
• 1482, Erzincan,erzurum, TurkeyM7.5 · 30,000 deaths · 136 km
• June 2, 1859, Erzurum, TurkeyM6.1 · 15,000 deaths · 93 km
• 1268, Erzincan, Turkey15,000 deaths · 194 km
• July 23, 1784, Erzurum,erzincan, Turkey5,000 deaths · 192 km
• April 28, 1903, Malazgirt, TurkeyM6.3 · 3,560 deaths · 12,000 houses destroyed · 78 km
• August 19, 1966, Varto, TurkeyM6.8 · 2,394 deaths · $20 million · 15 km
• September 6, 1975, Lice, TurkeyM6.7 · 2,311 deaths · 103 km
• March 31, 1648, Van, Turkey2,000 deaths · 165 km
• October 30, 1983, Erzurum, Kars, Khorasan, Pasinler, Narman, TurkeyM6.9 · 1,342 deaths · $25 million · 146 km
• May 22, 1971, Bingol, TurkeyM6.7 · 995 deaths · $5 million · 101 km
• May 31, 1946, Ustukran, TurkeyM5.9 · 840 deaths · 24 km
• March 13, 1992, Erzincan, TurkeyM6.9 · 653 deaths · $750 million · 184 km

Significant earthquakes of 1966The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1966Recent 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 4358.