Reviewed by USGS100y ago
M5.6 earthquake in Serbia
Sunday, May 15, 1927, 03:12:01 UTC · 44.242°N, 20.782°E
A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck in Serbia on Sunday, May 15, 1927, 03:12:01 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.0 on May 15, 1927.
- Magnitude
- 5.6
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 15 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
3 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/5 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 7 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
542 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
15 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 75 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 18 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.59 km E of Stari Bar, MontenegroJune 1, 1905 · 269 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.24 km ESE of Rrëshen, AlbaniaAugust 4, 1905 · 286 km S of this epicenter
- 6.115 km NE of Bobov Dol, BulgariaOctober 8, 1905 · 275 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.1Bosnia and HerzegovinaMarch 15, 1923 · 281 km W of this epicenter
- 6.011 km NW of Bileća, Bosnia and HerzegovinaFebruary 14, 1927 · 245 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.06 km SSE of Gurgurnica, North MacedoniaMarch 30, 1921 · 273 km S of this epicenter
- 6.08 km WNW of Kragujevac, SerbiaMay 15, 1927 · 21 km S of this epicenter
- 6.011 km S of Čačak, SerbiaMarch 24, 1922 · 61 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 16 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 123 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1905M6.6
Shkoder
1 Jun 1905 · 257 km away · intensity X
120 deaths$24 million damage
- 1893
Nw: Popovic
8 Apr 1893 · 34 km away · intensity X
3 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1922M6.0
Serbia
24 Mar 1922 · 35 km away · intensity X
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1780
Montenegro
21 Sep 1780 · 260 km away · intensity X
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1843M6.5
Croatia: Dubrovnik
14 Sep 1843 · 283 km away · intensity VII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1853M5.3
Montenegro
11 Dec 1853 · 270 km away · intensity VII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.