February 15, 1978 Earthquake: Turkey

Date

February 15, 1978

Time

03:17:37 UTC

Place

Turkey

Magnitude

4.5 (Ms)

Focal depth

33 km (21 mi)

Tsunami

None recorded

Epicenter

39.690° N, 39.790° E

Country

Turkey

Injuries

20

Damage

Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)

Houses destroyed

525

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 · 30 km
• 1458, Erzincan,erzurum, Turkey32,000 deaths · 57 km
• 1482, Erzincan,erzurum, TurkeyM7.5 · 30,000 deaths · 57 km
• 1158, Antakya, Malatya,dimashq, Lebanon, Turkey, Syria20,000 deaths · 190 km
• 1268, Erzincan, Turkey15,000 deaths · 26 km
• June 2, 1859, Erzurum, TurkeyM6.1 · 15,000 deaths · 131 km
• July 23, 1784, Erzurum,erzincan, Turkey5,000 deaths · 25 km
• August 19, 1966, Varto, TurkeyM6.8 · 2,394 deaths · $20 million · 161 km
• September 6, 1975, Lice, TurkeyM6.7 · 2,311 deaths · 157 km
• May 22, 1971, Bingol, TurkeyM6.7 · 995 deaths · $5 million · 116 km
• May 31, 1946, Ustukran, TurkeyM5.9 · 840 deaths · 145 km
• March 13, 1992, Erzincan, TurkeyM6.9 · 653 deaths · $750 million · 16 km
• December 5, 1943, NE, Anatolia, Turkey550 deaths · 39 km
• August 17, 1949, Karliova, TurkeyM6.8 · 320 deaths · 78 km
• May 1, 2003, Bingol, TurkeyM6.4 · 177 deaths · 718 houses destroyed · 96 km

Significant earthquakes of 1978The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1978Recent 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 4790.