Turkey experienced a very intense seismic year in 2025, with more than 53,000 earthquakes recorded over the past year, equivalent to an average of six earthquakes per hour and 146 per day, making it the second most active seismic year since the devastating 6 February 2023 earthquakes that devastated the southeast of the country.
Speaking to the Turkish news agency Anatolia, associate professor and seismology expert Dr Bülent Özmen stressed that the 2025 data again highlights the high seismic risk in Turkey. “When we analyse the number of earthquakes that occurred this year, we see that it has reached 53,262,” he said, recalling that, after the earthquakes with epicentre in Kahramanmaraş in 2023 – described as the “worst disaster of the century” – 2025 ranks as the second year with the most earthquakes and the highest magnitude recorded in the country.
According to Özmen, there were 437 earthquakes with a magnitude greater than 4 during 2025. Of these, 412 were between magnitude 4 and 5, twenty were between 5 and 6, and five were between 6 and 6.9. “These data show that, on average, a magnitude 4 earthquake is recorded in Türkiye every day, one of magnitude 5 or higher every 15 days, and one of magnitude 6 or higher every 73 days“.
“Overall, the country is shaken by an average of six earthquakes per hour and 146 per day,” explained the expert, who further added that, due to the seismic swarm with epicentre in Sındırgı, Balıkesir province was the most affected by earthquakes in 2025.
21,000 earthquakes in Sındırgı: the highest number ever recorded in history
Regarding the latter case that intrigues scientists so much, in the approximately four and a half months since the 6.1 earthquake that struck Sındırgı on 10 August, there have been nearly 21,000 earthquakes in the region (82 of them with a magnitude greater than 4), which could be considered the largest number of earthquakes ever recorded in a single district in Turkish history. “The population of Sındırgı has been shaken by an average of 146 earthquakes per day, with almost one earthquake of magnitude 4 or higher every day. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor seismic activity in this region very closely,” he warned.
Özmen also drew attention to the existence of a large number of earthquake-vulnerable buildings in the country. “Even earthquakes with a magnitude of more than 5 sometimes, unfortunately, cause serious damage. It is therefore necessary to accelerate urban transformation processes,” said Özmen, who also pointed out that active tectonic faults run through 24 provinces and 81 districts in Turkey and that building on these areas should be avoided.
Finally, the professor pointed out that in 2025, earthquakes in Turkey caused three deaths and 594 injuries, all of them due to panic. “This clearly shows that there is a need to increase the number of disaster and earthquake awareness training programmes in Türkiye,” he concluded.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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