The 1943 Tosya–Ladik earthquake occurred at 01:20 local time on 27 November, near Tosya, Kastamonu Province, in northern Turkey.
The earthquake had an estimated moment magnitude of 7.5–7.7 and a maximum felt intensity of XI (Catastrophic) on the MSK-64 scale.
Large earthquakes measuring 7+ magnitudes on the North Anatolian fault in the 1900s have ruptured in a migrating sequence from the east towards the west.
Due the latest earthquake in the migrating sequence occurring at the eastern edge of the Marmara Sea, at Izmit, the possible westward continuity of the pattern involves a very important and likely deadly hazard to one of the most populous cities in the world, Istanbul.
Additionally, the record of historical earthquakes provide little spatial constraint on the places that have had a surface rupture.
[10] The earthquake reportedly struck during a cloudy and rainy night, and first started with light shaking which intensified and lasted for around 4 minutes.
Another building that was damaged was the Nasrullah Mosque, which had a lot of small cracks including the dome, was closed for operation, only to be reopened later after an inspection from architects from Ankara.
[1] In Kastamonu's Daday, Küre and Inebolu districts, the earthquake was felt, however no damage was caused nor mentioned whatsoever.
The earthquake had a very significant effect in villages near the point where the Devrez Stream connects into the Kızılırmak River.
2 days after the earthquake, the casualty figure was 577 with around 300 injured, as announced by an official in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.
On 13 December 1943, the numbers were reported at 1,071 dead with 1,293 injured by the Health and Social Support Minister in the Grand National Assembly.
[8][9][11] As a result of the earthquake and the damage, the Tosya district governor instantly took control of the incident and started rescue operations.
Before winter came, both Tosya and Kargı's governing body started the construction of a barrack and also requested 25,000 liras for recovery efforts.
Meanwhile, since the governor was in Ankara, the vice-governor of Kastamonu, the local gendarmerie commander, the mayor of Tosya and the chief constable visited the area and surveyed the damage.
After a few days, the governor returned to Kastamonu, checked the damage in the surrounding buildings, consulted the injured at the hospital and then later visited Tosya.
In the meeting, they agreed to rebuild damaged villages, recover from all damage and losses as soon as possible, rebuild official buildings, provide farmers and other civilians with the necessary equipment and seeds, to prepare the construction commissions and begin the reconstruction of buildings that are earthquake-resistant in spring and manage earthquake-related laws accordingly.
The Turkish Red Crescent and the Kastamonu Municipality supplied doctors, medicines and food such as bread, cheese, olives and halva.