The 1887 Verny earthquake occurred on June 8 at 04:35 local time in Russian Turkestan (in present-day Kazakhstan).

It had an epicenter in the northern foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountain range, or just south of the city of Verny, then the administrative centre of Russia's Semirechye Oblast.

[3] The topography of this region is influenced by broad crustal deformation as a result of convergence along the Main Himalayan Thrust.

Before the Indian subcontinent collided with Eurasia, there were island arcs and microcontinents between the two landmasses that were also converging.

This deformation and accretion led to the formation of the Tien Shan mountains, which are moving 7±2 mm/yr towards the south along faults running along their base.

In the meizoseismal area, the northern foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau (part of the Tien Shan), the maximum MSK 64 intensity was evaluated at IX to X.