AbstractThe earthquake of 13 March 1992 (Ms = 6·8) in the densely populated Erzincan region of eastern Turkey resulted in about 500 deaths, at least 2000 people injured and widespread destruction of buildings. The results are presented of field observations carried out within the Erzincan Basin immediately after the earthquake. The main area of surface deformation is about 55 km2in extent and lies 15 km south‐east of Erzincan. Surface fractures with significant displacements were observed with orientations as follows: strike‐slip 095–110° (dextral), 040° (sinistral) and 090° (sinistral); extensional 150–180°. Most of the observed fractures are consistent with the Harvard centroid moment tensor solution for the main shock, which indicates north‐south compressional and east‐west extensional principal horizontal stress axes. It is suggested that the earthquake probably occurred as a result of dextral strike‐slip motion on a segment of the North An