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UTC time | 1948-10-05 20:12:09 |
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ISC event | 897583 |
USGS-ANSS | ComCat |
Local date | 6 October 1948 |
Local time | 01:12:09 TMT |
Magnitude | 7.3 Ms |
Epicenter | 37°57′N58°19′E / 37.95°N 58.32°E |
Areas affected | Soviet Union (Turkmen SSR), Iran |
Max. intensity | MMI X (Extreme) [1] |
Casualties | 10,000–110,000 [2] |
The 1948 Ashgabat earthquake [lower-alpha 1] was on 6 October with a surface-wave magnitude of 7.3 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), in Turkmenistan near Ashgabat. Due to censorship by the Soviet government, the event was not widely reported in the Soviet media. Historians tend to agree that the ban on reporting the extent of the casualties and damage did not allow the Soviet government to allocate enough financial resources to respond adequately. [3] It was the strongest earthquake recorded in Turkmenistan.
The Ashgabat earthquake struck at 1:12 a.m. on October 6, 1948. The epicenter of the earthquake was near the small village of Gara-Gaudan, 25 kilometres southwest of Ashgabat. The earthquake caused extreme damage in Ashgabat and nearby villages, where almost all brick buildings collapsed, concrete structures were heavily damaged, and freight trains were derailed. There were damage and casualties in Darreh Gaz, Iran. Surface rupture was observed northwest and southeast of Ashgabat. Media sources vary on the number of the casualties, from 10,000 to 110,000, equivalent to almost 10% of the Turkmen SSR's population at the time. [4]
According to memories of survivors, the city's infrastructure was badly damaged, with the exception of water pipes. Telephone and telegraph service was cut. The city aerodrome's landing strip was cracked. [5]
Dmitry Nalivkin, a Soviet geologist who was present, ended up in the building of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Turkmenistan, where, as was customary at that time, there was a night meeting dedicated to the problems of Garabogazköl, described later:
When I came to my senses, I realized that I was still standing at the open window and holding on to the frame, and outside the window there was something incredible, impossible. Instead of a dark transparent starry night, there was an impenetrable milky-white wall in front of me, and behind it terrible groans, screams, cries for help. In a few seconds, the entire old clay, adobe city was destroyed, and in place of the houses, a terrible white veil of dust shot up into the air, hiding everything.
Shortly after the earthquake in one of the military units located on the western outskirts of Ashgabat, the radio operator managed to turn on the emergency lighting. He established radio contact, which was almost immediately interrupted, and managed to broadcast a message about the earthquake. This radiogram was received by Tashkent.
The news of the disaster was able to be sent on the air through the on-board radio station located in the airport and the wounded flight mechanic Muscovite Yury Drozdov, who reached the Ilyushin Il-12 passenger plane in the dark. This signal was received by signalmen of the Sverdlovsk Airport.
Two hours after the earthquake, in Tashkent, the commander of the Turkestan Military District, Army General Ivan Yefimovich Petrov learned about the tragedy in Ashgabat. At night, he sent to Moscow the commander-in-chief of the ground forces, Marshal Ivan Konev a message saying the following:
On the night of October 5–6, a strong earthquake occurred in Ashgabat. There are no ties with Ashgabat. According to fragmentary data, there is severe destruction and casualties. At 9:30 a.m. local time, I will fly to the scene. I'll give you the details.
In the morning, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Turkmenistan created a republican commission. General Petrov who meanwhile arrived in Ashgabat was also included in this commission, immediately called-in military units from neighboring garrisons. Four divisions were transferred to the city to deal with the consequences of the earthquake. The first trucks with bread from military bakeries began to drive around the city. Electricity was restored six days after the earthquake. The railway station began functioning on the third day. Because most motor vehicles were stored either under the open sky or in light plywood garages, most trucks and passenger automobiles were undamaged and proved critical to delivery of medicine and medical supplies from a destroyed pharmaceutical warehouse. All hospitals were destroyed, so medical treatment was rendered on the municipal parade ground "under the trees". [5]
This earthquake killed future Turkmen president Saparmurat Niyazov's mother Gurbansoltan Eje (his father Atamyrat Nyýazow having been killed during World War II) and the rest of his family, leaving him an orphan. [7] Aid to victims, as well as restoration of basic needs and infrastructure, was provided by the Soviet Army.
The history of Turkmenistan traditionally began with the arrival of Indo-European Iranian tribes around 2000 BC. Early tribes were nomadic or semi-nomadic due to the arid conditions of the region, preventing widespread adoption of agriculture. The steppe culture in Central Asia was an extension of a larger Eurasian series of horse cultures which spanned the entire spectrum of language families, including the Indo-Europeans and Turko-Mongol groups. Some of the known early Iranian tribes included the Massagatae, the Scythians/Sakas, and early Soghdians, who were most likely precursors of the Khwarezmians. Turkmenistan was a passing point for numerous migrations and invasions by tribes, which gravitated towards the settled regions of the south, including ancient Mesopotamia, Elam, and the Indus Valley civilization.
Ashgabat is the capital and largest city of Turkmenistan. It lies between the Karakum Desert and the Kopetdag mountain range in Central Asia, approximately 50 km away from the Iran-Turkmenistan border. The city has a population of 1,030,063 which makes it the second most populous city in the country after Balkanabat.
The Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Turkmenistan, the Turkmen SSR, TuSSR, Turkmenistan, or Turkmenia, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union located in Central Asia existed as a republic from 1925 to 1991. Initially, on 7 August 1921, it was established as the Turkmen Oblast of the Turkestan ASSR before being made, on 13 May 1925, a separate republic of the USSR as the Turkmen SSR.
Ashgabat International Airport, formerly known as Saparmyrat Türkmenbaşy International Airport, is one of five international airports in Turkmenistan. It is located within the city limits of Ashgabat (Ashkhabad). The old airport, with its air traffic control tower and a 3,700-metre-long (12,000 ft) precision approach runway (12L-30R), opened in 1994 and was named after the country's first president, Saparmyrat Niyazov. The new airport terminal opened in September 2016, after being completely redesigned and rebuilt and after the south runway was moved and lengthened to parallel the north runway.
Dmitry Vasilyevich Nalivkin was a Soviet geologist. He was primarily interested in stratigraphy, but was also responsible in large part for mapping the geology of the Soviet Union.
The 1976 Guatemala earthquake struck on February 4 at 03:01:43 local time with a moment magnitude of 7.5. The shock was centered on the Motagua Fault, about 160 km northeast of Guatemala City at a depth of 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) near the town of Los Amates in the department of Izabal.
The 1948 Fukui earthquake occurred in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. The magnitude 6.8 quake struck at 4:13:31 p.m.(JDT) on June 28, 1948. The quake's hypocenter was approximately 10 km north-northeast of Fukui, in the present-day neighborhood of Maruoka, Sakai City. The strongest shaking occurred in the city of Fukui, where it was recorded as 6 on the Japan Meteorological Agency seismic intensity scale.
The Transcaspian Government was a "Menshevik-Socialist Revolutionary" coalition set up by the railway workers of the Trans-Caspian Railway in 1918. It was based at Ashgabat, Transcaspian Oblast.
The list of Turkmenistan-related articles is below
Halk Hakydasy Memorial Complex is a memorial complex to the honour of those killed in the Battle of Geok Tepe in 1881, in World War II, and in the 1948 Ashgabat earthquake. It is in the southwestern part of Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
Saparmurat Turkmenbashi the Great Avenue is the main avenue and one of the largest arteries of Ashgabat.
Zamira Ismailovna Usmanova is an Uzbek archaeologist and the first woman to graduate from the National University of Uzbekistan's Department of Archaeology. One of few female archaeologists in Central Asia, her works and research allowed for the dating of the city of Merv, Erk-Kala. She has published about 150 scientific publications on archaeology and the history of art of Central Asia.
The Day of Remembrance is an official holiday of Turkmenistan, commemorating those who were killed in the 1948 Ashgabat earthquake on 6 October 1948. It is one of two mourning days in Turkmenistan.
Atamyrat Nyýazow was a soldier in the Red Army during World War II from the Soviet Republic of Turkmenistan who was the father of the first post-Soviet president of Turkmenistan, Saparmyrat Nyýazow,. He was also a school teacher and a financial officer.
Erzincan in Turkey, then part of the Ottoman Empire, was struck by a major earthquake on 18 July 1784. It caused widespread damage between Erzincan and Muş. It had an estimated magnitude of 7.6 Ms. More than 90% of the houses in Erzincan collapsed and at least 5,000 people died, with some reports of more than 10,000 deaths. A 150 km long zone of surface rupture was observed. It ruptured the Yedisu segment at the eastern end of the North Anatolian Fault, which has not ruptured since then and is now regarded as a seismic gap. In 2013 it was estimated that about 2.67 m of displacement deficit has accumulated on this fault segment since 1784, sufficient to drive an earthquake of up to Mw7.5.
Ivan Ivanovich Cherinko was a Ukrainian artist who moved to Turkmenistan, after visiting Ashgabat in 1933 and finding the city beautiful and picturesque. He was among the Russian-trained artists who came to Turkmenistan and created works of art the captured the nature and culture of the republic. He founded the Union of Artists of Turkmenistan in the 1930s and co-founded the Sh. Rustaveli Turkmen Art School. In 1945, he was named an Honored Art Worker of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic.
The 1997 Bojnurd earthquake occurred on 4 February at 14:07 IRST in Iran. The epicenter of the Mw 6.5 earthquake was in the Kopet Dag mountains of North Khorasan, near the Iran–Turkmenistan border, about 579 km (360 mi) northeast of Tehran. The earthquake is characterized by shallow strike-slip faulting in a zone of active faults. Seismic activity is present as the Kopet Dag is actively accommodating tectonics through faulting. The earthquake left 88 dead, 1,948 injured, and affected 173 villages, including four which were destroyed. Damage also occurred in Shirvan and Bojnord counties. The total cost of damage was estimated to be over US$ 30 million.
The 1977 Khurgu earthquake struck southern Iran near Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan province on the morning of March 22. The earthquake measuring moment magnitude (Mw ) 6.7 struck at a depth of 12.5 km (7.8 mi). Thirty five villages were heavily damaged including over 20 which were destroyed. There were 152–167 people killed and 556 injured.
The 1917 San Salvador earthquake occurred on June 7 at 18:55 local time near the Salvadoran capital. The hypocenter of the Mw 6.7 was at a shallow depth of 15 km (9.3 mi), and occurred along a shallow crustal fault near San Salvador. The earthquake caused significant destruction of the city and left approximately 1,050 dead. It was followed by an eruption on San Salvador that killed another 1,100. Only behind the earthquake of 1986, it is the second deadliest in El Salvador's history.