Reviewed by USGS122y ago
M5.2 earthquake southern Italy
Friday, August 25, 1905, 20:40:53 UTC · 41.981°N, 13.776°E
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck southern Italy on Friday, August 25, 1905, 20:40:53 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 5.2
- 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
985 tons of TNT
That is about 1/15 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 2 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
360 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 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 no earlier M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km.
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 44 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 76,416 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1703
Central Apennino, Norcia, L'Aquila, Perugia
14 Jan 1703 · 105 km away · intensity XI
40,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1857M6.5
Campania, Potenza
16 Dec 1857 · 264 km away · intensity X
10,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1703M6.7
L'Aquila (Aquila)
2 Feb 1703 · 72 km away · intensity XI
10,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1805
Molise, Rosolone, Napoli (Naples), Isernia
26 Jul 1805 · 116 km away · intensity XI
5,600 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1731M6.3
Foggia
20 Mar 1731 · 153 km away · intensity X
3,600 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1883
Ischia Is: Casamicciola, Forino, Lacco Ameno
28 Jul 1883 · 143 km away · intensity X
2,313 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.