Timeline: Major earthquakes that hit Türkiye in recent decades

A devastating 7.7 earthquake with powerful aftershocks have hit southeastern parts of Türkiye and northern Syria on Monday, with the epicentre originating in the Pazarcik district of Kahramanmaras province.

So far there are over 3,549 reported deaths and 22,168 injured, both numbers are likely to be revised upwards as rescuers looked for survivors among tangles of metal and concrete.

Türkiye is in a geographically seismic area with the country between the North Anatolian fault line running through the entirety of the landmass and the East Anatolian fault line running through the south of the country.

The deadly earthquake that struck Türkiye in the early hours of Monday is the most powerful one on record since 1939. In recent decades, however, there have been several powerful earthquakes that have left thousands dead and have a lingering impact on the country.

Here’s a quick round-up of Türkiye’s worst quakes of recent years:

Erzincan, December 27 - 1939

Striking the city at 1:57 am while most of its inhabitants were sleeping, the 7.8 magnitude earthquake left almost 33,000 residents dead.

Many died because the earthquake struck in the middle of winter and a resulting blizzard and a flood made the city uninhabitable. It was abandoned and a new one was built to the north.

The region saw more magnitude 7 earthquakes and Türkiye started to adopt building regulations in a bid to upgrade the safety of buildings.

Bolu-Gerede, February 1 - 1944

The powerful earthquake had a 7.4 magnitude and resulted in a knock-on effect in other towns alongside the Anatolian fault line.

Striking at 5:22 am, the earthquake left 2,790 people dead and 50,000 were destroyed or were heavily damaged.  

Bingol, May 22 -1971

Bingol was nearly destroyed after a 6.9 magnitude struck at 18:44 pm in the eastern city of Türkiye. More than 90 percent of the buildings were destroyed leaving much of the population homeless and almost 1,000 people dead.

Izmit, August 17 - 1999

The 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck the city of Izmit, 90km southeast of Istanbul at 3:02 am local time. The surrounding region is one of Türkiye's most important industrial regions.

It left more than 17,118 dead, 50,000 injured and upwards of 500,000 people homeless. Poor construction material was considered a factor in the high death toll.

The economic fallout was estimated to be around $6.5 billion.

Van, October 23 - 2011

Considered one of the biggest earthquakes Türkiye has had in recent years, at a magnitude of 7.2.

The earthquake left 640 dead and injured almost 2,000.

Elazig, January 24 - 2020

The 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck the eastern city of Türkiye, leaving 41 people dead and injuring more than 1,600 dead.

Izmir, October 30 - 2020

The Aegean earthquake, with a magnitude of 6.6 hit western province of Izmir, followed by over 1,400 aftershocks with 43 of them being over a magnitude of 4.0 that killed at least 117 people and injured moren than 1,000 others.

Following the earthquake, a tsunami struck the region, causing damage to towns and coastal areas, and was felt as far away as Mugla and Manisa.

Kahramanmaras, February 6, 2023

A powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Türkiye and northern Syria, and was followed by two powerful aftershocks -measured at magnitude 6.5 and 6.6- before another powerful 7.6 magnitude quake hit, jolting several provinces and neghbouring countries.

According to Türkiye’s Vice president so far over 8,000 people have been rescued from the rubble as 11,022 search and rescue teams are working in the field. He added that 3,294 search and rescue personnel have also arrived from 14 countries, with nine sniffer dogs to assist these teams.

In Syria, regime and rescue officials reported that at least 1,602 people were killed and over 2,400 others were wounded.