A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria on February 6, 2023, killing thousands of people in both countries. The death toll has risen continuously since the accident.
Turkey is located in a zone of large seismic faults and registers frequent earthquakes. Some 18,000 people died in 1999 in a series of earthquakes in the northwest of the country.
In 1999 it triggered two earthquakes, measuring 7.4 and 7.0 each, in the provinces of Gölcük and Düzce. Nearly 18,000 people died and more than 45,000 were injured. Back in 2011, more than 500 people were killed when a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the eastern city of Van.
World’s deadliest earthquake events in the last 25 years
- On June 22, 2022: A 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan, killing more than 1,100 people.
- On August 14, 2021: A 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, killing over 2,200 people.
- On September 28, 2018: A 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia, causing a tsunami, where more than 4,300 people lost their lives.
- April 25, 2015: More than 8,800 people were killed in a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Nepal.
- On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the northeast coast of Japan, causing a tsunami that killed approximately 20,000 people.
- January 12, 2010: A magnitude 7.0 earthquake kills more than 100,000 people in Haiti. The government’s estimate of the death toll was 3,16,000 which was staggering.
- May 12, 2008: A 7.9-magnitude earthquake hits eastern Sichuan, China, killing more than 87,500 people.
- May 27, 2006: A 6.3-magnitude earthquake hits the Indonesian island of Java, killing more than 5,700 people.
- On October 8, 2005: A 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck the Kashmir region of Pakistan, killing over 80,000 people.
- March 28, 2005: An 8.6 magnitude earthquake struck North Sumatra, Indonesia, killing nearly 1,300 people.
- December 26, 2004: A magnitude 9.1 earthquake in Indonesia triggers a tsunami in the Indian Ocean, killing approximately 230,000 people in 12 countries.
- December 26, 2003: A 6.6 magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Iran, killing more than 20,000 people.
- May 21, 2003: A 6.8 magnitude earthquake kills more than 2,200 people in Algeria.
- January 26, 2001: A 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck Gujarat, India, killing over 20,000 people.
- August 17, 1999: A 7.6 magnitude earthquake hits Izmit, Turkey, killing approximately 18,000 people.
- May 30, 1998: A 6.6-magnitude earthquake hits Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province, killing more than 4,000 people.
ALSO READ
- What are fault lines, and how do they cause earthquakes?
- What is earthquake light that seen in Turkey before massive jolt?
- Series of earthquakes in Turkey, What are the reasons?
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