M5.3 Earthquake 45 km WSW of Gazipa?a, Turkey — December 5, 2020
2020-12-05 12:44:40 UTC (2020-12-05) · approx. 2:44 PM UTC+2 local
Felt by 186 people across surrounding communities.
On December 5, 2020 at 12:44 UTC, a magnitude 5.3 intermediate depth earthquake struck 45 km WSW of Gazipa?a, Turkey, at a depth of 84.5 km and coordinates 36.0719°, 31.8808°.
Physical scale: An earthquake of magnitude 5.3 releases seismic energy equivalent to roughly 1 kilotons of TNT. Empirical fault-scaling laws (Wells & Coppersmith, 1994) estimate the subsurface rupture length at approximately 2.7 km — a useful intuition for the size of the slip patch on the fault.
The epicenter is located in Turkey, a region characterized by the North Anatolian Fault, a 1,500 km transform boundary driven by the westward extrusion of the Anatolian microplate. The nearest mapped fault system is the North Anatolian Fault. View all earthquakes in Turkey.
Learn more: Magnitude scale · Aftershock sequences
Did You Feel It? — community-reported shaking
Aggregated felt-report intensity from 186 citizen responses to the USGS Did You Feel It? system. Each colored zone represents the average MMI from reports in that area.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey Did You Feel It?. View on USGS · submit your own report
Earthquake Details
31.8808°E
Technical Information
Nearby Earthquakes (Last 7 Days)
Common Questions
How strong was the magnitude 5.3 earthquake near Gazipa?a, Turkey?
The magnitude 5.3 earthquake that struck 45 km WSW of Gazipa?a, Turkey on December 5, 2020 at 12:44 UTC had a depth of 84.5 km. For context, this was a moderate earthquake that could be widely felt.
Where did the earthquake occur?
The earthquake epicenter was located at 36.0719°, 31.8808°, which is 45 km WSW of Gazipa?a, Turkey. View all earthquakes in Turkey.
Were there aftershocks?
Aftershock activity is monitored continuously by the USGS. Aftershock sequences from magnitude 5.3 earthquakes can continue for days to weeks and gradually diminish over time.
Has Turkey had earthquakes this big before?
The largest recorded earthquake in Turkey was the M7.8 Kahramanmaraş earthquake of February 6, 2023. Today's magnitude 5.3 event is significantly smaller than that historical record.
Authoritative source: USGS event page (event ID: us7000cnf1). All scientific values on this page are sourced verbatim from the USGS feed.
Cite this page: EarthquakeTracker.org. (2020, December 5, 2020). M5.3 Earthquake 45 km WSW of Gazipa?a, Turkey — December 5, 2020. Retrieved December 22, 2025 from https://www.earthquaketracker.org/earthquakes/event/us7000cnf1/