site.btaApril 23 Earthquake in Turkiye: Strongest in the Region in Past Ten Years

The earthquake on April 23, 2025, in the Marmara Sea region, Western Turkiye, with a magnitude of 6.2, was the strongest in the region in the last ten years, the National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences announced on its official Facebook page Thursday. More than 120 aftershocks were registered after the main quake, which had its epicentre in the western part of the North Anatolian Fault and was also felt in Bulgaria, the Institute adds.

The active geodynamic processes in Turkiye, which is located in the Eastern Mediterranean, are mainly influenced by three large plates, the African, Arabian and Eurasian, and several microplates, including the Anatolian, the experts explain. Much of the seismic activity in the Eastern Mediterranean region is in the northern part of the Anatolian microplate, along the so-called North Anatolian Fault zone.

This zone, which is about 1,500 kilometers long, extends from Eastern Turkiye to mainland Greece. The fault zone is characterized by a high level of seismic activity.

From 1939 to 1999, a series of devastating earthquakes with magnitudes above 7 occurred along the North Anatolian Fault zone. They began in 1939 with an earthquake in the Eastern Anatolia Region (Erzincan Province). The quake’s magnitude was 7.8, it was generated at the eastern end of the fault. The most recent magnitude 7.6 earthquake in 1999 was localized at the western end of the fault zone near the city of Izmit, Northwestern Turkiye. The disaster killed more than 17,000 people and affected one of the most densely populated industrialized areas of Turkiye, the Institute says.

As the BTA English Services reported, an earthquake measuring 6.2 points on the Richter scale shook Istanbul and the surrounding area on April 23. More than 150 people were injured while trying to escape, and many were frightened by the shaking. The shockwaves reached Bulgaria and were felt across the country, but mostly in the south – Burgas, Haskovo, Yambol, Kardzhali regions. There were no injuries reported. The Bulgarian National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences said that the epicentre was 140 km east of Malko Tarnovo, 200 km east of Burgas and 460 km southeast of Sofia.

In 2023, Turkiye experienced the deadliest and most destructive earthquake in its modern history. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake in February 2023 killed over 55,000 people and injured over 107,000 in Southern Turkiye and Northern Syria. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee their homes, with many still living in temporary housing.