The devastating earthquake struck Ashgabat and near by villages at 2:17 in the morning on 6 October 1948. The ground ruptured in Gara-Gaudan. Damage and casualties also occurred over the border in Darreh Gaz, Iran. The epicentre of the earthquake was located near the small village of Gara-Gaudan, 25 kilometers south-west of Ashgabat. Witnesses claimed at the time brick buildings collapsed and freight trains fell of the railway lines. The only infrastructure that survived was the mains water pipes.