Reviewed by USGS105y ago
M6.1 earthquake in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Thursday, March 15, 1923, 05:40:20 UTC · 43.237°N, 17.567°E
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday, March 15, 1923, 05:40:20 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.2 on August 4, 1905.
- Magnitude
- 6.1
- Strong · 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
21 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 45 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
451 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Eurasian and African 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 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 13 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 · 187 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.24 km ESE of Rrëshen, AlbaniaAugust 4, 1905 · 255 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.07 km ESE of Pokupsko, CroatiaOctober 8, 1909 · 274 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.011 km S of Čačak, SerbiaMarch 24, 1922 · 233 km E of this epicenter
- 5.9Montenegro-Albania border regionJune 3, 1905 · 195 km SE of this epicenter
- 5.84 km WNW of Sunja, CroatiaJanuary 2, 1906 · 253 km N of this epicenter
- 5.815 km WNW of Perušić, CroatiaJuly 14, 1916 · 250 km NW of this epicenter
- 5.69 km S of Stolac, Bosnia and HerzegovinaAugust 1, 1907 · 40 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 19 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 4,391 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1731M6.3
Foggia
20 Mar 1731 · 257 km away · intensity X
3,600 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1851
Melfi, Rapolla, Barile, Rionero, Mt Vulture
14 Aug 1851 · 293 km away · intensity XI
671 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1905M6.6
Shkoder
1 Jun 1905 · 209 km away · intensity X
120 deaths$24 million damage
- 1922M6.0
Serbia
24 Mar 1922 · 261 km away · intensity X
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1780
Montenegro
21 Sep 1780 · 137 km away · intensity X
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1923
Croatia: Podgora
15 Mar 1923 · 38 km away · intensity X
Severe damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.