May 13, 1986 Earthquake: Akhalkalaki, Susuz, Georgia

Name: May 13, 1986 Earthquake: Akhalkalaki, Susuz, Georgia
Start: 1986-05-13
Location: Akhalkalaki, Susuz, Georgia

May 13, 1986 · M5.7 · 2 deaths · 1,500 houses destroyed

A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck Akhalkalaki, Susuz, Georgia on May 13, 1986 at 08:44:02 UTC, 10 km below the surface. It killed 2 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 13, 1986
Time: 08:44:02 UTC
Place: Akhalkalaki, Susuz, Georgia
Magnitude: 5.7 (Ms)
Magnitude scales: Ms 5.7 · mb 5.7
Focal depth: 10 km (6 mi)
Intensity: VII, very strong shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
Tsunami: None recorded
Epicenter: 41.431° N, 43.737° E
Country: Georgia
Region: Central Asia and Caucasus
USGS record: The USGS’s page for this earthquake

Ms: surface-wave magnitude. mb: body-wave (P-wave) magnitude. NCEI’s headline magnitude is the best of these for the earthquake.

The toll

Deaths: 2
Damage: Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
Houses destroyed: 1,500
Houses damaged: 1,500

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 happened

The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.

Two people killed and about 1,500 buildings destroyed in the Akhalkalaki area, USSR. Slight damage in the Susuz area, Turkey. Felt (VII) at Akhalkalaki and Bakuriani, (V) at Stepanavan and Tbilisi, (IV) at Abastumani, Leninakan and Gegechkori and (III) at Goris, USSR. Also felt at Cildir, Ardahan and Hanak, Turkey. CENTROID, MOMENT TENSOR (HRV) Data Used: GDSN L.P.B.: 16S, 34C Centroid Location: Origin Time 08:44: 5.8 0.3 Lat 41.03N 0.03 Lon 43.92E 0.04 Dep 15.0 FIX Half-duration 2.8 Moment Tensor; Scale 10**24 D-CM Mrr=0.36 0.11 Mtt=-4.60 0.16 Mff=4.24 0.10 Mrt=0.69 0.31 Mrf=-0.65 0.32 Mtf=2.08 0.10 Principal Axes: (T) Val=4.76 Plg=6 Azm=102 (N) Val=0.42 Plg=79 Azm=335 (P) Val=-5.18 Plg=8 Azm=193 Best Double Couple:Mo=5.0*10**24 NP1:Strike=237 Dip=80 Slip=-1 NP2:Strike=328 Dip=89 Slip=-170

From the USGS event page for usp0002tyq. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.

Magnitude estimates

The magnitudes the USGS catalog lists for this earthquake, by scale and by who computed them. NCEI’s own scales are in the table above.

Mag.	Scale	Computed by	Notes
5.8	Mw, moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed
5.74	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
5.7	Mwc, centroid moment	Global CMT project	Preliminary

Sources NCEI cites

The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.

#1053 National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) (1971 to 2013). Preliminary Determination of Epicenters (PDE), a weekly and monthly publication, National Earthquake Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Golden, Colorado, 1971 to 2013.
#1054 McClelland, Lindsay, et al, editors (1980-1989). SEAN Bulletin, a monthly publication of the Scientific Event Alert Network of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
#1232 International Seismological Centre (1964-1990). Regional Catalogue of Earthquakes, 1964-1990, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

Significant earthquakes of 1986 The 1900s Every quake the USGS located in 1986 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 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 5096. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event usp0002tyq, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.