The 1949 Karlıova earthquake occurred at 18:43 UTC

Coordinated Universal Time

Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...

 on 17 August with an epicenter

Epicenter

The epicenter or epicentre is the point on the Earth's surface that is directly above the hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or underground explosion originates...

 near Karlıova

Karliova

Karlıova is a town and district of Bingöl Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The mayor is Ferit Çelik .-External links:*...

 in Bingöl Province

Bingöl Province

Bingöl Province is a province of Turkey in Eastern Anatolia. The province was created in 1946 out of parts of Elazığ and Erzincan. The new province was known as Çapakçur Province until 1950. Its neighbouring provinces are Tunceli, Erzurum, Muş, Diyarbakır, Erzincan and Elazığ. The province covers...

, Eastern Anatolia Region

Eastern Anatolia Region

The Eastern Anatolia Region is one of seven non-administrative subdivisions of Turkey and encompasses its eastern provinces.The region and the name "Doğu Anadolu Bölgesi" were first defined at the First Geography Congress in 1941. It has the highest average altitude, largest geographical area, and...

 of Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

. It had an estimated magnitude of 6.7, a maximum felt intensity of X (Intense) on the Mercalli intensity scale

Mercalli intensity scale

The Mercalli intensity scale is a seismic scale used for measuring the intensity of an earthquake. It measures the effects of an earthquake, and is distinct from the moment magnitude M_w usually reported for an earthquake , which is a measure of the energy released...

 and caused 320 casualties.

Tectonic setting

The Karlıova region is the location of the triple junction

Karliova Triple Junction

The Karlıova Triple Junction is a geologic triple junction of three tectonic plates: the Anatolian Plate, the Eurasian Plate and the Arabian Plate....

 between the boundaries of the Eurasian Plate

Eurasian Plate

The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate which includes most of the continent of Eurasia , with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent, and the area east of the Chersky Range in East Siberia...

, Anatolian Plate

Anatolian Plate

The Anatolian Plate is a continental tectonic plate consisting primarily of the country of Turkey.The easterly side is a boundary with the Arabian Plate, the East Anatolian Fault, a left lateral transform fault....

 and the Arabian Plate

Arabian Plate

The Arabian Plate is one of three tectonic plates which have been moving northward over millions of years and colliding with the Eurasian Plate...

, the North Anatolian Fault

North Anatolian Fault

The North Anatolian Fault is a major active right lateral-moving strike-slip fault in northern Anatolia which runs along the transform boundary between the Eurasian Plate and the Anatolian Plate. The fault extends westward from a junction with the East Anatolian Fault at the Karliova Triple...

, East Anatolian Fault

East Anatolian Fault

The East Anatolian Fault is a major strike-slip fault zone in eastern Turkey. It forms the transform type tectonic boundary between the Anatolian Plate and the northward-moving Arabian Plate. The difference in the relative motions of the two plates is manifest in the left lateral motion along the...

 and the Mus fold and thrust belt, which passes to the east into the Zagros fold and thrust belt

Zagros fold and thrust belt

The Zagros fold and thrust belt is a ~1800 km long zone of deformed crustal rocks, formed in the foreland of the collision between the Arabian Plate and the Eurasian Plate...

. The earthquake occurred at the eastern end of the North Anatolian Fault.

Characteristics

The seismic moment estimated for this earthquake is 3.5E+26, equivalent to a magnitude of 7.1 on the moment magnitude scale

Moment magnitude scale

The moment magnitude scale is used by seismologists to measure the size of earthquakes in terms of the energy released. The magnitude is based on the seismic moment of the earthquake, which is equal to the rigidity of the Earth multiplied by the average amount of slip on the fault and the size of...

. The estimated fault length involved is 63 km.