1948_Ashgabat_earthquake

The 1948 Ashgabat earthquake (Turkmen: 1948 Ашгабат ертитремеси, romanized: 1948 Aşgabat ýertitremesi; Russian: Ашхабадское землетрясение 1948 года, romanized: Ashkhabadskoye zemletryasenie 1948 goda) was on 6 October with a surface wave magnitude of 7.3 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), in Turkmenistan near Ashgabat. Due to censorship by the Soviet government, the event was not widely reported in the USSR's media. Historians tend to agree that the ban on reporting the extent of the casualties and damage did not allow the Soviet government to allocate enough financial resources to respond adequately. It was the strongest earthquake recorded in Turkmenistan.