East Anatolian Fault
Turkiye · continental transform · 6068.2 km of mapped active fault in 49 traces
background as of 7 November 2026.
consistent with baseline
| Window | the last 30.0 days |
|---|---|
| Earthquakes counted | 0 at M4.5 or above |
| Expected in that window | 0.87 |
What this system normally does
From 1995 to 2025 the catalogue holds 319 earthquakes of M4.5 or larger attributable to this system: about 10.63 a year. That figure is what "elevated" on this page is measured against.
The fault itself
| Mapped length | 6068.2 km |
|---|---|
| Traces | 49 |
| Tectonic setting | continental transform |
| Slip types | Sinistral, Sinistral-Normal, Sinistral-Reverse |
| Depth attributed to it | down to 50.0 km |
| Extent | 35.87 to 39.82 latitude, 34.76 to 42.34 longitude |
Recorded history
NOAA's hazard records hold 38 significant earthquakes and 3 tsunamis attributed to this system since 115.
The deadliest was the 13 December 115 magnitude 7.5 earthquake (Turkey: Antakya (Antioch)), which killed 260,000 people.
The strongest earthquake on record here was magnitude 7.8, on 6 February 2023 (Turkey: Kahramanmaras; Syria).
The most recent entry is the 16 October 2024 magnitude 6.0 earthquake (Turkey: Elazig and Malatya Provinces).
Across the entries that record a death toll, 581,134 people died.
| Date | What | Where | Toll |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 December 115 | magnitude 7.5 earthquake | Turkey: Antakya (Antioch) | 260,000 dead, damage over $25 million |
| 29 May 525 | magnitude 7.0 earthquake | Turkey: Antakya (Antioch), Samandag | 250,000 dead, damage over $25 million |
| 6 February 2023 | magnitude 7.8 earthquake | Turkey: Kahramanmaras; Syria | 56,697 dead, 542,461 homes destroyed, $42,900 million damage |
| 6 February 2023 | tsunami (waves to 0.3 m) | Gulf of Iskenderun | 56,697 dead, 542,461 homes destroyed, $42,900 million damage |
| 29 November 528 | magnitude 7.1 earthquake | Turkey: Antakya (Antioch) | 4,870 dead, damage over $25 million |
| 19 August 1966 | magnitude 6.8 earthquake | Turkey: Varto | 2,394 dead, $20 million damage |
| 6 September 1975 | magnitude 6.7 earthquake | Turkey: Lice | 2,311 dead, $17 million damage |
| 3 April 1872 | magnitude 7.3 earthquake | Turkey: Antakya (Antioch), Suedije | 1,800 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 3 April 1872 | tsunami | Samandag (Suaidiya) | 1,800 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 22 May 1971 | magnitude 6.7 earthquake | Turkey: Bingol | 995 dead, $5 million damage |
| 31 May 1946 | magnitude 5.9 earthquake | Turkey: Ustukran | 840 dead, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 31 March 1893 | magnitude 6.7 earthquake | Turkey: Malatya | 400 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 20 March 1945 | magnitude 6.1 earthquake | Turkey: Aelana, Ceyhan, Adana | 300 dead |
| 1 May 2003 | magnitude 6.4 earthquake | Turkey: Bingol | 177 dead, 718 homes destroyed, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 27 June 1998 | magnitude 6.3 earthquake | Turkey: Adana, Ceyhan | 145 dead, 1,700 homes destroyed, $550 million damage |
| 8 March 2010 | magnitude 6.1 earthquake | Turkey: Elazig Province: Okcular, Yukari Demirci | 51 dead, 287 homes destroyed, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 24 January 2020 | magnitude 6.7 earthquake | Turkey: Elazig and Malatya Provinces | 41 dead, 76 homes destroyed, damage over $25 million |
| 25 March 1977 | magnitude 4.9 earthquake | Turkey | 30 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 22 October 1952 | magnitude 5.0 earthquake | Turkey: Ceyhan, Misis | 20 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 25 October 1959 | magnitude 6.2 earthquake | Turkey: Ninia | 18 dead, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 5 May 1986 | magnitude 5.9 earthquake | Turkey: Dogansehir-golbashi, Kapidere | 15 dead, 4,000 homes destroyed, $5 million damage |
| 7 March 1966 | magnitude 6.0 earthquake | Turkey: Varto, Mus | 10 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 14 June 1964 | magnitude 6.1 earthquake | Turkey: Malatya, Adiyaman | 8 dead, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 20 February 2023 | magnitude 6.3 earthquake | Turkey; Syria | 6 dead |
| 27 February 2023 | magnitude 5.2 earthquake | Turkey: Malatya; Syria: Nw | 2 dead, 31 homes destroyed, damage $1 to 5 million |
These are the 25 deadliest and largest of 41 entries. A dash means NOAA recorded no number, not that nobody died. Older entries are fewer because fewer were written down, not because less happened.
Recorded history: NOAA NCEI hazard databases, public domain, retrieved 2026-10-22.
Who to listen to if you live here
AFAD, Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency is the agency that tells people on this system what to do. https://deprem.afad.gov.tr/ (in Turkish)
Other systems in Turkiye
Where these numbers come from
Fault geometry, length and segment counts: GEM Global Active Faults Database (GEM GAF-DB), GEM Foundation, https://github.com/GEMScienceTools/gem-global-active-faults Licence: CC-BY-SA-4.0. Figures derived from it here are offered under the same licence. Earthquake counts, magnitudes and depths: United States Geological Survey, public domain. The activity judgement is ours, computed from those two inputs, and is not a statement by either agency.