Reviewed by USGSCyprus106y ago
M5.5 earthquake 0 km ENE of Mórfou, Cyprus
Wednesday, April 20, 1921, 16:04:27 UTC · 35.200°N, 32.997°E
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 0 km ENE of Mórfou, Cyprus on Wednesday, April 20, 1921, 16:04:27 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.4 on September 29, 1918.
- Magnitude
- 5.5
- 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 6 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
94 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Anatolian and African plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
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 1 M5.0+ earthquake 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 5 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 21,700 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1822
Antakya; Syria: Halab,Dimashq (Damascus);
13 Aug 1822 · 286 km away · intensity XI
20,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1796
Al-Ladhiqiyah (Latakia)
26 Feb 1796 · 255 km away · intensity IX
1,500 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1735
Nicosia
10 Apr 1735 · 37 km away · intensity IX
200 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1822
Dimashq (Damascus), Halab; Cyprus
5 Sep 1822 · 286 km away · intensity XI
Extreme damage ($25M+)
- 1743
Turkey
14 Mar 1743 · 279 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.