Iraq records 862 earthquakes in 2025 seismic report

BAGHDAD — Iraq recorded 862 earthquakes in 2025, with hundreds of tremors detected inside the country and across neighboring regions, according to the annual seismic bulletin issued by the General Authority for Meteorology and Seismic Monitoring.

In a statement, the authority said, “The Seismic Monitoring Department at the General Authority for Meteorology and Seismic Monitoring, under the supervision of its director general Dr. Abdul Azim Karim Ghafil, issued the annual seismic bulletin for 2025.” The bulletin shows that the earthquakes ranged in magnitude from 1 to 5.2 on the Richter scale, with focal depths between 2 and 45 kilometers.

Ali Abdul Khaliq, head of the seismic monitoring department, said, “These annual bulletins are among the important and necessary procedures for archiving information and comparing it with other years in terms of studies and research.” He added that “this bulletin included records of all surface locations of earthquakes registered during the year in Iraq and neighboring regions.” Of the total, 463 earthquakes occurred inside Iraq, while 399 were recorded in surrounding areas, including 255 in Iran near the Iraqi border, 127 in Turkey, 12 in Syria, four in Kuwait and one in Saudi Arabia.

Within Iraq, Diyala governorate recorded the highest number of earthquakes in 2025 with 225 events, followed by Sulaymaniyah with 114, Erbil with 34, Duhok with 29, Nineveh with 23, Kirkuk with 16, Salah al-Din with seven, Wasit with six, Halabja with four, Maysan with three, and one earthquake each in Baghdad and Anbar. The authority said seismic activity was concentrated mainly in northern and northeastern areas near the Iraqi-Iranian border, including areas south and southeast of Darbandikhan, east of Kalar in Sulaymaniyah, and in Khanaqin and Mandali in Diyala, adding that 35 immediate earthquake reports were issued during the year and that “no human or material losses were recorded as a result of the seismic activity.”