891 Earthquake: Ardabil, Iran

Date

891

Place

Ardabil, Iran

Magnitude

6.3

Focal depth

20 km (12 mi)

Intensity

9 on the Modified Mercalli scale

Tsunami

None recorded

Epicenter

38.300° N, 48.300° E

Country

Iran

Damage

Severe (about $5 to $25 million)

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.

• November 18, 1727, Tabriz, Iran77,000 deaths · 178 km
• November 4, 1042, Tabriz, IranM7.6 · 50,000 deaths · 176 km
• January 8, 1780, Tabriz, IranM7.7 · 50,000 deaths · 187 km
• April 26, 1721, Tabriz, IranM7.7 · 40,000 deaths · 147 km
• June 20, 1990, Rasht, Qazvin, Zanjan, Rudbar, Manjil, IranM7.3 · 40,000 deaths · $7.2 billion · 100,000 houses destroyed · 178 km
• August 21, 1042, Tabriz, Iran40,000 deaths · 187 km
• February 5, 1641, Tabriz, Kurdistan, Iran30,000 deaths · 195 km
• December 27, 1779, Tabriz, IranM6.5 · 10,000 deaths · 144 km
• March 22, 1879, Bozqush, Ardabil, Gamrud, Tark, Manan, IranM6.7 · 2,000 deaths · 66 km
• 1664, Tabriz, Iran1,500 deaths · 176 km
• February 28, 1997, Ardabil, IranM6.1 · 1,100 deaths · $76 million · 12,000 houses destroyed · 33 km
• January 3, 1864, Lenkoran, Niar, Ardabil, Azerbaijan, Iran500 deaths · 6 km
• December 1863, Nir,ardabil, Iran500 deaths · 70 km
• August 11, 2012, Ahar, Haris, Varzagan, IranM6.5 · 306 deaths · $599 million · 129 km
• January 2, 1896, Sangabad (Senjabad), Iran300 deaths · 56 km

Significant earthquakes of 891The 800sRecent earthquakes near here

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 263.