Turkish Earthquake Strongest Felt in Syria in Centuries

The 7.8-magnitude earthquake at the Syria-Turkey border on February 06 is the strongest to have struck Syria for more than eight hundred years.

The last earthquake with a comparable magnitude was the 1202 Damascus earthquake, which had an estimated magnitude of 7.4 to 7.6 and resulted in an estimated 30,000 deaths. Some historians have claimed that more than a million people perished during the 1202 earthquake due to resulting famines and floods.

Other major earthquakes that have affected Syria in the past centuries include a series of earthquakes that struck the Bekaa Valley at the Syrian-Lebanese border in 1759, causing thousands of deaths and heavy damage to infrastructure in Damascus. In 1822, an estimated 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Aleppo, killing around 20,000 individuals and causing severe damage to the city.

Over the previous centuries, many other significant earthquakes have hit modern-day Syria, but the scarcity or quality of historical sources makes them difficult to assess. 

In an interview with SANA on February 06, Director General of the National Center for Earthquakes (NCE) Raed Ahmad stated that yesterday’s earthquake was the strongest seismic event felt in Syria and the first with a magnitude of over six since the NCE was established in 1995. 

Map 1: Intensity of February 06, 2023 Earthquake in Gaziantep

Source: United States Geological Survey (USGC)

Following the initial earthquake, several aftershocks were felt, including one that reached 7.5 on the Richter scale, which measures the strength of earthquakes on a scale of one (weakest) to nine (strongest). By midday on February 06, some ten hours after the earthquake, the NCE recorded at least 25 aftershocks. Mr Ahmad dismissed fears of a tsunami striking the Syrian coast in the coming days because all tremors were located on land. 

Since 1995, most earthquakes have occurred in the coastal governorates and at the borders with Turkey and Iraq. As a part of the northwestern part of the Arabian Plate, Syria is located between several systems: the Dead Sea Transform Fault system (coastal area), the Shear Palmyride Fault system (Central Syria), the Zagros Thrust Zone system (Iraqi border), and the East Anatolian Fault system (Turkish border).

Over the country’s contemporary history, most earthquakes have been of low magnitudes, i.e. lower than 4.9. This type of earthquake is generally felt by the population but causes minimal to no damage to infrastructure and is not deadly.

Before February 06, 2023, the largest earthquake the NCE had recorded occurred in December 1996 in Palmyra (5.6 in magnitude). Due to the event’s remote location, the earthquake did not cause any major damage.

Since 1995, the NCE has recorded 35 earthquakes with magnitudes over or equal to 4.0 and only one over 5.0 on Syrian territory (see table below). The media has not reported any significant damages or human losses caused by any of these seismic events. Since January 2021, no earthquake with a magnitude greater than 4.0 has been recorded in Syria.

Table 1: 4.0+ Earthquakes Reported by the National Centre for Earthquakes in Syria (1995-2021)

Source: National Centre for Earthquakes, SANA

According to Mr Ahmad, the government recently worked on installing a new network of seismic stations across the country after all, but two were destroyed during the conflict. During the past three years, 25 new stations were installed.

The NCE is a state institution affiliated with the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources. It is tasked with conducting research in seismic studies and monitoring seismic activities across Syria. In 2023, the government allocated SYP 542 million (USD 181,000) from the state budget to the NCE.