In 1919 , the city was renamed '' ' Poltoratsk ' '' ( ) , after Pavel Poltoratskiy , the Chairman of the Soviet of National Economy of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic . When the Turkmen SSR was established in 1924 , Poltoratsk became its capital . The original name ( in the form of " Ashkhabad " ) was restored in 1927 . From this period onward , the city experienced rapid growth and industrialisation , although severely disrupted by a major earthquake on October 6 , 1948 . An estimated 7.3 on the Richter scale , the earthquake killed 110 – 176,000 ( ⅔ of the population of the city ) , although the official number announced by Soviet news was only 40,000
major earthquake
1948 Ashgabat earthquake
Ashgabat