1939 Erzincan earthquake
The 1939 Erzincan earthquake struck eastern Turkey at with a moment magnitude of 7.8 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XII. This was one of the largest in a sequence of violent shocks to affect Turkey along the North Anatolian Fault between 1939 and 1999.
Initially, the death toll was about 8,000 people. The next day, it was reported that it had risen to 20,000. An emergency rescue operation began. By January 5, almost 33,000 had died due to the earthquakes and to blizzard conditions, followed by heavy rains that caused floods. So extensive was the damage to Erzincan city that its old site was entirely abandoned and a new settlement was founded a little further to the north.
In the next few years there were three more 7+ magnitude quakes in the region. Turkey soon adopted seismic building regulations.
