January 15, 2021 Earthquake: Hormozgan Province, Iran
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck Hormozgan Province, Iran on January 15, 2021 at 21:31:04 UTC, 8 km below the surface.
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
- January 15, 2021
- Time
- 21:31:04 UTC
- Place
- Hormozgan Province, Iran
- Magnitude
- 5.5 (Mw)
- Focal depth
- 8 km (5 mi)
- Intensity
- V, moderate shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 26.926° N, 55.186° E
- Country
- Iran
- Region
- Middle East
- USGS record
- The USGS’s page for this earthquake
The toll
- Injuries
- 1
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses damaged
- 80
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.
One person injured and 80 houses damaged in Bandar Lengeh.
From the USGS event page for us7000d0gn. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.5 | Mww, W-phase moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.068 · 21 stations |
| 5.43 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.2 | Mwb, body-wave moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Moment tensor · Reviewed |
| 5.5 | Mww, W-phase moment | USGS, automatic first solution | First automatic solution · Confirmed |
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
The Seismological Center of Geophysics Institute of Tehran University registered the quake struck at 1:01 am local time (GMT+3:30). The earthquake occurred at a depth of 19 kilometers with the epicenter in Bandar Kong region of Bandar Lengeh County in Hormozgan province. The reports suggest that 80 houses have been damages by the quake, adding that there was only one outpatient injured in the tremor. (reference #12834)
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.
- #12834 Fars News Agency (Iran) (2021). 5.5 Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Southern Iran. Published 16 January 2021. Link
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- January 11, 1897, Qeshm Island, Larak Island, Iran
- April 24, 1960, Lar, Iran
- October 31, 1956, Bastak, Iran
- May 19, 1884, Qeshm I,bandar-E-Laft,saheli,tonban,direstan, Iran
- March 21, 1977, Bandar Abbas, Iran
- August 1880, Bastak, Jonah, Iran
- June 11, 1961, Dehkuyeh,khaneh,lar,shagheb,nokhriz,bighu, Iran
- November 6, 1990, S, Darab, Iran
- November 27, 2005, Qeshm, Zirang
- January 15, 1953, Lar, Iran
- March 24, 1913, Teyhan, Iran
- July 9, 1902, Qeshm,bandar Abbas,genu, Qeshm Island, Iran
- September 10, 2008, Hormozgan Province, Iran
- March 7, 1975, Sarkhun,qaleh Qazi,qadhad,nong-E-Bala, Iran
- July 1, 2022, Hormozgan Province, Iran
More
Significant earthquakes of 2021The 2000sEvery quake the USGS located in 2021Recent 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 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 10525. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event us7000d0gn, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.