September 3, 1968 Earthquake: Bartin, Amasra, Cakraz, Turkey

Name: September 3, 1968 Earthquake: Bartin, Amasra, Cakraz, Turkey
Start: 1968-09-03
Location: Bartin, Amasra, Cakraz, Turkey

September 3, 1968 · M6.6 · 24 deaths · 2,000 houses destroyed

A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck Bartin, Amasra, Cakraz, Turkey on September 3, 1968 at 08:19:52 UTC, 38 km below the surface. It killed 24 people, counting the tsunami it caused.

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: September 3, 1968
Time: 08:19:52 UTC
Place: Bartin, Amasra, Cakraz, Turkey
Magnitude: 6.6 (Ms)
Focal depth: 38 km (24 mi)
Intensity: 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
Tsunami: Yes: the tsunami it caused
Epicenter: 41.800° N, 32.300° E
Country: Turkey

The toll

Deaths: 24
Injuries: 200
Damage: Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
Houses destroyed: 2,000
Houses damaged: 2,000

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.

An earthquake on September 3, 1968 at 08:19:52.2 UTC (41.8 N, 32.3 E, depth 38 km), centered in the vicinity of Bartin, Turkey, caused 24 deaths, 200 injuries and destroyed over 2,000 houses. Several villages were completely razed. At Amasra, water in the Big Port first drew back 1.5 meters leaving fish jumping on dry land, and then rose 3 meters. Huge landslides and rockfalls were observed along a 9-mile stretch of the coast of Big Port. A lake was created by landslide action at Cakraz, where the sea receded about 12-15 meters and never returned entirely to its original level. (reference #45)

The Bartin earthquake exhibited the first known seismological evidence of thrust faulting along the southern margin of the Black Sea. The coastal hills between Cakraz and Amasra were uplifted. (reference #9275)

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

Significant earthquakes of 1968 The 1900s Every quake the USGS located in 1968 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 4460.