Reported by EMSC7d ago
M3.1 earthquake in Romania
Sunday, September 20, 2026, 18:18:00 UTC · 44.923°N, 22.458°E
A magnitude 3.1 earthquake struck in Romania on Sunday, September 20, 2026, 18:18:00 UTC, at a depth of 4.1 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 3.1
- Minor · ml
- Depth
- 4 km
- Shallow
- Reported by
- EMSC
- Agency EMSC
- Nearest tracker
- 159 km
- from Belgrade
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
674 kg of TNT
That is about 1/22,353 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 708 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
563 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Aegean Sea and Eurasian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
4 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 50 km
USGS and EMSC have not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km since this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 37 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.41 km SE of Bruiu, RomaniaJanuary 26, 1916 · 205 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.115 km NE of Bobov Dol, BulgariaOctober 8, 1905 · 279 km S of this epicenter
- 6.08 km WNW of Kragujevac, SerbiaMay 15, 1927 · 162 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.011 km S of Čačak, SerbiaMarch 24, 1922 · 209 km SW of this epicenter
- 5.818 km E of Raška, SerbiaMay 18, 1980 · 223 km SW of this epicenter
- 5.86 km NW of Fábiánsebestyén, HungaryJuly 8, 1911 · 256 km NW of this epicenter
- 5.720 km NNE of Leposaviq, KosovoApril 13, 1978 · 221 km SW of this epicenter
- 5.72 km S of Gjilan, KosovoApril 24, 2002 · 288 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 24 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 13 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 2015M3.7
Bosnia-Herzegovina:
21 Feb 2015 · 284 km away
4 deaths
- 1893
Nw: Popovic
8 Apr 1893 · 128 km away · intensity X
3 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 2010M5.5
Serbia: Kraljevo
3 Nov 2010 · 192 km away · intensity VI
2 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1991M5.6
Banloc, Deta, Timisoara
12 Jul 1991 · 120 km away · intensity VIII
2 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)
- 2002M5.7
Kosovo; Macedonia: N
24 Apr 2002 · 288 km away
1 death$350 million damage
- 1998M5.5
Serbia: Belgrade, Ljig, Valjevo
29 Sep 1998 · 204 km away · intensity VIII
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.