Historic Earthquakes

Erzincan, Turkey
1939 December 26 23:57 UTC
Magnitude 7.8

32,700 deaths. Extreme damage in the Erzincan Plain and the Kelkit River Valley. Damage (VII) occurred from near Turcan, where a strong earthquake (possibly a fore- shock) had occurred on Nov 21, west to Amasya and from Sivas north to the Black Sea coast. The quake was felt strongly at Larnaca, Cyprus. Over 300 km (190 mi) of surface faulting was observed in the North Anatolian Fault Zone between Erzincan and Niksar, with as much as 3.7 m (2.5 ft) of horizontal displacement and 2.0 m (1.2 ft) of vertical offset. A small tsunami was observed at Fatsa on the Black Sea coast of Turkey. It was recorded by tide stations from Tuapse, Russia to Sevastopol, Ukraine.