Türkiye recorded 53,262 earthquakes in 2025, making it the second most seismically active year since the Feb. 6, 2023, Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes in southern Türkiye, according to a leading disaster management expert.
Associate professor Bülent Özmen, a faculty member at Gazi University’s Faculty of Engineering, said the data underscores the country’s persistent and elevated earthquake risk.
"When we analyze the figures, we see that Türkiye is shaken by an average of six earthquakes per hour and 146 earthquakes per day,” Özmen told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Tuesday.
Özmen said 437 earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 and above were recorded during the year. Of those, 412 measured between 4.0 and 5.0, 20 between 5.0 and 6.0, and five between 6.0 and 6.9, indicating a sustained level of seismic activity nationwide.
"These figures show that Türkiye experiences, on average, one magnitude 4 earthquake every day, a magnitude 5 or stronger earthquake roughly every 15 days, and a magnitude 6 or stronger earthquake about every 73 days,” he said.
Özmen said Balıkesir in northwestern Türkiye ranked as the province with the highest number of earthquakes in 2025, driven largely by intense seismic activity in the Sındırgı district. He noted that Balıkesir was followed by Kütahya, Muğla, Malatya and Kahramanmaraş.
The year’s most significant earthquake, Özmen said, was a magnitude 6.2 quake that struck off the coast of Silivri near Istanbul on April 23, once again highlighting the metropolis’s continued vulnerability to major earthquakes.
He identified a second major sequence in Sındırgı, where 2 magnitude 6.1 earthquakes struck on Aug. 10 and Oct. 27. Since Aug. 10, nearly 21,000 earthquakes have been recorded in the district over approximately 4.5 months, a figure Özmen described as unprecedented for a single district in Türkiye.
"Residents of Sındırgı were shaken by an average of 146 earthquakes per day, with almost daily tremors of magnitude 4.0 or higher,” he said, adding that the region’s seismic activity requires close monitoring.
Özmen said 3 people were killed and 594 were injured by earthquakes in Türkiye in 2025. He noted that all injuries were caused by panic rather than structural collapse, pointing to gaps in public preparedness.
He also warned that earthquake-resistant construction remains insufficient, saying even moderate earthquakes can cause serious damage due to aging and vulnerable building stock. "Urban transformation efforts must be accelerated,” he said.
Özmen noted that active fault lines pass beneath 24 provinces and 81 districts across Türkiye and said development should be restricted in such areas. He called for spatial planning that accounts not only for earthquakes but also for liquefaction, landslides and other disaster risks.
"The data clearly shows the need to expand disaster awareness training nationwide,” Özmen said. "These programs must be delivered by qualified experts and focus on reducing panic and improving public response during earthquakes.”