ÇANAKKALE — 1953 · Major Tragedy

The 1953 Yenice–Gönen Earthquake

ClosedSources: ALast updated: 14 October 2026

At 21:06 on the evening of 18 March 1953, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck about 12 kilometres east of Yenice in Çanakkale province. Occurring on the southern branch of the North Anatolian Fault, it heavily damaged Yenice, the neighbouring Gönen district of Balıkesir and surrounding villages. The earthquake killed 265 people and destroyed or damaged around 6,750 buildings. Yenice suffered the worst: about 420 of the town's roughly 450 houses were heavily damaged, and 192 people died there alone. Because it struck in the evening and in late-winter conditions, sheltering the newly homeless became an urgent problem. It is recorded as one of the most destructive earthquakes of Turkey's republican era.

Date: 1953
Place: Yenice, Çanakkale
Category: Major Tragedy
Case Status: Closed
Coordinates: 39.9300, 27.2600 ↗

Timeline of Events

18 March 1953A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck east of Yenice at 21:06.
March 1953Around 6,750 buildings were destroyed or damaged in Yenice and Gönen.
March 1953The toll was set at 265 dead, 192 of them in Yenice.

Sources

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