Monday’s deadly earthquake in Turkey, felt in Syria, Lebanon and Israel, was as strong as one in 1939, the strongest on record in Turkey.
With a magnitude of 7.8, Monday’s quake was the same magnitude as one that killed around 10,000 people 30,000 people in December 1939 in north-eastern Turkey, Stephen Hicks, research fellow in seismology at Imperial College London, wrote on Twitter.
Turkey, a hotbed of seismic activity, lies on the Anatolian Plate, which borders two major faults as it grinds northeast against Eurasia. The North Anatolian Fault crosses the country from west to east and the East Anatolian Fault lies in the southeastern region of the country.
Here are some other deadly earthquakes that have occurred along these fault lines in recent decades.
October 2020
A magnitude 7 earthquake near Samosa Greek island in the Aegean near the Turkish coast, killed at least 24 people in Turkey and caused more casualties in Greece.
January 2020
A 6.7 magnitude tremor shook east turkeykilled at least 22 people, injured hundreds and caused tremors in Syria, Georgia and Armenia.
October 2011
A 7.2 in magnitude earthquake east turkey at least 138 people killed and about 350 injured. The quake struck in Van province, not far from the border with Iran, and was felt strongly in nearby villages and some parts of northern Iraq.
March 2010
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake also occurred east turkey, killed 51 people. One village was largely destroyed and four others badly damaged. A second 5.6 magnitude tremor subsequently struck the same area, alongside numerous aftershocks.
Aug 1999
A 7.4 magnitude earthquake that struck the Western Turkish city of Izmit killed more than 17,000 people.
