The 1926 Kars earthquake or the 1926 Leninakan earthquake occurred at 21:59 local time on 22 October 1926 in the border area of Soviet Armenia and eastern Turkey. It had a surface-wave magnitude of 6.0 and a maximum felt intensity of IX (Violent) on the Mercalli intensity scale, causing 360 casualties. Many buildings in Leninakan and surrounding villages were destroyed or damaged.
The Soviet investigation by the geologist Pyotr Lebedev, published in 1927, noted that the quake could be felt as far away as Yerevan, Tiflis, Batumi and even Sochi, and that aftershocks lasted for several days. He noted that up to 300 people were killed in the quake in Soviet Armenia, with about the same number seriously injured.[3]