May 1, 2003 Earthquake: Bingol, Turkey
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Bingol, Turkey on May 1, 2003 at 00:27:04 UTC, 10 km below the surface. It killed 177 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 1, 2003
- Time
- 00:27:04 UTC
- Place
- Bingol, Turkey
- Magnitude
- 6.4 (Mw)
- Focal depth
- 10 km (6 mi)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 39.007° N, 40.464° E
- Country
- Turkey
The toll
- Deaths
- 177
- Injuries
- 521
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 718
- Houses damaged
- 718; 2,593 with its tsunami and other effects
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.
At least 177 people killed in the Bingol area, including
85 which were at Celtiksuyu Boarding School. At least
521 people injured, 718 buildings destroyed, 2,593
damaged and 1,662 livestock killed in the Bingol area.
The damage area includes villages within about a 30 km
radius around the city, from Sancak to Gokdere and
Gozeler. Felt strongly in much of eastern Turkey.
Landslides and surface faulting were observed in the
Buyukyurt fault zone north of Bingol and maximum
horizontal ground acceleration of 0.55g was recorded
at Bingol. (reference #1053)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- December 26, 1939, Erzincan, Turkey
- 1458, Erzincan,erzurum, Turkey
- 1482, Erzincan,erzurum, Turkey
- 1444, Nemrut Mtns, Turkey
- 1158, Antakya, Malatya,dimashq, Lebanon, Turkey, Syria
- 1268, Erzincan, Turkey
- June 2, 1859, Erzurum, Turkey
- July 23, 1784, Erzurum,erzincan, Turkey
- April 28, 1903, Malazgirt, Turkey
- August 19, 1966, Varto, Turkey
- September 6, 1975, Lice, Turkey
- May 22, 1971, Bingol, Turkey
- May 31, 1946, Ustukran, Turkey
- March 13, 1992, Erzincan, Turkey
- December 5, 1943, NE, Anatolia, Turkey
More
Significant earthquakes of 2003The 2000sEvery quake the USGS located in 2003Recent earthquakes near hereThis 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 5692.