A Mw  7.0 earthquake struck Balkan Region, Turkmenistan on 6 December 2000, at 17:11:08 UTC (22:11 TMT).

The main structure in the Caspian Sea is the Apsheron Sill, a zone of active subduction.

The trend of the Apsheron sill is quite oblique to the overall plate motion and this results in significant amounts of right lateral strike-slip along this structure in an overall transpressional setting.

[6] The maximum shaking intensity of VII (Very Strong) on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale was observed in Balkanabat and Türkmenbaşy, with intensity V (Moderate) tremors felt at Gyzylarbat, as well as in Nukus, Uzbekistan and Baku, Azerbaijan; shaking was also felt throughout parts of Russia, including Moscow, as well as in Armenia and northern Iran.

[8] Dozens of people were injured[6] and many were hospitalized due to stress and panic induced by the tremors, and numerous buildings suffered minor damage.