Reviewed by USGSGreece120y ago
M6.1 earthquake 25 km NW of Kastrí, Greece
Sunday, May 17, 1908, 12:30:50 UTC · 34.987°N, 23.884°E
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck 25 km NW of Kastrí, Greece on Sunday, May 17, 1908, 12:30:50 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.9 on August 11, 1903.
- Magnitude
- 6.1
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 35 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
19 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 39 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
30 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Aegean Sea and African plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
35 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.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 100 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 3 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 17 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 5,712 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1810
Crete: Iraklion (Candia)
16 Feb 1810 · 116 km away · intensity X
3,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1750
Morea,Cerigo
7 Jun 1750 · 157 km away · intensity X
2,000 deaths
- 1856
Crete; Egypt
12 Oct 1856 · 200 km away · intensity XI
600 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1791M7.0
Zante, Gastuni
2 Nov 1791 · 277 km away · intensity X
80 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1846
Messini-Micromani (Messinia)
10 Jun 1846 · 281 km away · intensity X
30 deathsUnder $1 million damage
- 1903M7.8
Mitata (Kythera)
11 Aug 1903 · 138 km away · intensity XI
2 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.