Magnitude 6.8 Earthquake Strikes Eastern Turkey-Iran Border Region
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake near Van, Turkey damaged 2,400 buildings and killed at least 59 people across the Turkey-Iran border region, with rescue operations complicated by freezing temperatures.
Shallow Quake Damages Towns in Van and West Azerbaijan Provinces
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck the Turkey-Iran border region at 3:17 a.m. local time on November 6, 2025, according to the United States Geological Survey. The epicenter was located 28 kilometers southeast of the Turkish city of Van at a depth of 10 kilometers, making it a shallow and particularly destructive event.
Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, AFAD, confirmed 47 deaths and more than 800 injuries on the Turkish side. In Iran's West Azerbaijan province, the Red Crescent Society reported 12 deaths and 230 injuries as of the first day.
Rescue Operations
AFAD deployed 6,200 search and rescue personnel along with 85 heavy machinery units to Van and surrounding districts. The Turkish military established a field hospital with 200-bed capacity within 12 hours of the quake. Temperatures in the region dropped to minus 5 degrees Celsius overnight, complicating rescue efforts for an estimated 300 people trapped under collapsed buildings.
Iran's Emergency Management Organization dispatched teams from Tabriz and Urmia, though access roads to several affected villages in the Salmas district were blocked by rockslides. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the mobilization of all state resources for relief operations.
Structural Damage Assessment
AFAD preliminary assessments indicated 2,400 buildings severely damaged or destroyed in Van province, including 180 buildings in Van city center. Many collapsed structures were older masonry buildings that predated Turkey's updated seismic building code, enacted after the devastating 1999 Izmit earthquake.
Professor Haluk Eyidogan of Istanbul Technical University's seismology department said the fault system responsible for the quake was "well-known and overdue for a significant event." He warned of elevated aftershock risk, with AFAD recording 340 aftershocks above magnitude 3.0 in the first 48 hours.
International Aid
The European Union activated its Civil Protection Mechanism, with Greece, Germany, and France sending urban search and rescue teams. Azerbaijan dispatched 200 rescue workers and 50 tons of humanitarian supplies via military transport aircraft.
The UN Resident Coordinator in Turkey estimated that 85,000 people required immediate shelter assistance. UNICEF reported that 45 schools were damaged, displacing 12,000 students from their classrooms.
