Shallow M5.1 Earthquake struck on Monday Morning near Merkezefendi in Türkiye.

Written by Earthquakelist.org on March 9th, 2026. Last updated April 1st, 2026.

In the morning of Monday March 9th, 2026, a shallow and significant M5.1 earthquake hit under land 28 kilometer from Merkezefendi in Türkiye. Another nearby country is Greece.

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Earthquake Summary

The earthquake struck on land in Türkiye, 28 kilometer (17 mi) north of Merkezefendi in Denizli. The center of this earthquake had a very shallow depth of 10 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Mar 9, 2026 09:21 (Istanbul Time) - Mar 9, 2026 06:21 Universal Time.
Location:	28 km north of Merkezefendi, Denizli, Türkiye. Coordinates 38°2'60"N 28°57'19"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.1 Detected by 25 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.062 .
Depth:	10 km (6 mi) A very shallow depth.
Tsunami Risk:	Tsunami very unlikely While this was a shallow earthquake, it appears to have occurred under land with a magnitude not strong enough to cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here.

Nearby towns and cities

Türkiye and Greece are both located within 300km distance of the epicenter of the earthquake.

Sarayköy in Denizli, Türkiye is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 14 kilometer (9 mi) north of Sarayköy.

Major cities near this earthquake: İzmir is located 164 km to the west. Merkezefendi is located 28 km to the south. Denizli is located 33 km to the south.

A complete list of nearby places is included below.

Overview of nearby places

Shaking reported by 6 people

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 6 people have reported shaking in 6 places, all within Turkey.We keep updating this article as more ground reports become available. You may report that you felt this earthquake here.

Places with most reports:

• Nazilli, Aydın, Turkey: 1 person.
• Buldan, Denizli, Turkey: 1 person.
• Akköy, Denizli, Turkey: 1 person.
• Denizli, Denizli, Turkey: 1 person.
• Aydın, Aydın, Turkey: 1 person.
• Uşak, Uşak, Turkey: 1 person.

44 Aftershocks detected

This main shock was followed by 44 smaller aftershocks. A 4.1 magnitude earthquake hit 14 hrs later 4 km (2.4 mi) north of this earthquake.

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

More earthquakes coming?

The risk of aftershocks decreases rapidly over time. Usually, aftershocks are at least one order of magnitude lower than a main shock.

It's always adviced to be cautious of the risk of a larger shock following any significant earthquake, however this risk is fairly small. There is a roughly 94 percent change that no larger main shock will follow in the days following this earthquake.

Earthquakes like this happen often in the region

Earthquakes of this strength are very common in the region. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since October 27th, 2025, when a 6 magnitude earthquake hit 141 km (88 mi) further northwest. An even stronger magnitude 7 earthquake struck on October 30th, 2020.

In total, 26 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.1 or higher have been registered within 300km (186 mi) of this epicenter in the past 10 years. This comes down to an average of once every 5 months.

Tsunami very unlikely

While MAG-6.5+ earthquakes may cause tsunami's, it appears that the epicenter of this earthquake hit under land. In addition, the reported depth is deeper than 100km, making the risk of a tsunami even less likely. However always stay cautious and monitor advice from local authorities.

Tsunami Risk Factors

Sources

Last updated 01/04/26 08:48 (). This article is automatically generated based on available data. We keep checking multiple sources for additional information. This article gets updated as new details on this earthquake become available.

1. US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us7000s33s
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20260309_0000093
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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