2025 Balıkesir earthquakes

On 10 August 2025 at 19:53 TRT, a M_ww 6.1 earthquake struck the Sındırgı district of Balıkesir, Turkey, 8 km (5.0 mi) south-southwest of Bigadiç.^[3] One person died and 52 others were injured as a result of the first event. On 27 October at 22:48 TRT, a M_w  6.0 event struck the same area, injuring 68 people.^[4]

The western part of Anatolia forms part of the zone of active extensional tectonics that extends westwards through the Aegean Sea plate to the Gulf of Corinth. This extension is a result of the rollback of the African plate as it subducts beneath the Aegean Sea plate. Previous earthquakes in this area include a sequence of three destructive events during the 1969–1970 period, the 1969 Demirci earthquake, the 1969 Alaşehir earthquake and the 1970 Gediz earthquake.^[5][6]

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported a magnitude of M_ww 6.1. Its epicenter was located 8 km (5.0 mi) south-southwest of Bigadiç in Balıkesir Province.^[3] The Kandilli Observatory said that the quake was centered near the districts of Alakır and Sındırgı, and occurred at a depth of 7.7 km (4.8 mi).^[7] The earthquake's epicenter lies close to the western end of the Simav fault zone, which is interpreted to be responsible for the 1969 Demirci event.^[8]

The earthquake shaking had a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent),^[3] and was felt as far away as the cities of Istanbul, İzmir, Aydın, Eskişehir, and Tekirdağ^[9] and in the neighboring countries of Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, North Macedonia and Romania.^[10] By 13 August at 9:30 local time, 1,235 aftershocks were recorded of which 19 exceeded magnitude 4.0,^[11] and included a mb 4.2 event at 17:15 UTC.^[12] On August 24, at 18:58 UTC, a magnitude M_w  4.8 aftershock occurred.^[13]

The earthquake mainshock was preceded by a sequence of foreshocks, with three events of magnitude >3 during the previous three days.^[8]

A second large earthquake, measuring M_ww  6.0, struck 4 km (2.5 mi) east-southeast of Sındırgı on 27 October at 22:48:29 TRT, at a depth of 8 km (5.0 mi). It had a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe).^[4] Within an hour of the mainshock, 26 aftershocks were reported, the largest measuring M_w  4.2.^[14][15]

Two minarets were damaged or destroyed in Sındırgı.^[16] A three-story apartment block collapsed,^[17] 729 buildings were severely damaged^[18] and 61 were slightly damaged.^[19] Seventy-three mosques were also affected.^[20] An 82-year-old man died after he was rescued from a collapsed building.^[21] Fifty-two people were initially hospitalized due to injuries or panic.^[22][23] Eight houses were also damaged in Manisa. Most of the buildings that collapsed or suffered damage were uninhabited and abandoned.^[24] A sinkhole also appeared in a rural area near Odunpazarı in Eskişehir Province.^[25]

Around 1,100 search and rescue personnel and 50 damage assessment teams were deployed to the affected areas.^[21] The owner and contractor of the building in Sındırgı in which the fatality was recorded was taken into custody on suspicion of "causing death and injury by negligence".^[26]

Twenty-six people were injured,^[27] five abandoned buildings and a shop collapsed, at least 80 structures were severely damaged and a collapsing wall damaged a vehicle in Sındırgı.^{[28][29][30][31][32]} Forty-two people were injured and 83 structures were damaged in Manisa Province.^[33] A house sustained cracks in walls and a collapsed ceiling in Gördes.^[34] Several aftershocks, the largest of which measured M_w  4.8, caused a building heavily damaged by the August 11 quake to collapse partially.^[35] Schools were closed for one day.^[36] Public buildings were opened to temporarily shelter victims.^[37]

• List of earthquakes in 2025
• List of earthquakes in Turkey
• 1919 Ayvalık earthquake
• 1953 Yenice–Gönen earthquake
• 2025 Istanbul earthquake

39°18′43″N 28°4′8″E / 39.31194°N 28.06889°E / 39.31194; 28.06889