Reviewed by USGSBulgaria118y ago
M5.4 earthquake 7 km W of Simitli, Bulgaria
Wednesday, February 23, 1910, 07:52:16 UTC · 41.878°N, 23.026°E
A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck 7 km W of Simitli, Bulgaria on Wednesday, February 23, 1910, 07:52:16 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.5 on November 18, 1905.
- Magnitude
- 5.4
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 10 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
2 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/8 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 4 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
231 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
10 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 13 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.2Aegean SeaNovember 8, 1905 · 240 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.07 km SE of Stara Kresna, BulgariaApril 4, 1904 · 23 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.86 km W of Stara Kresna, BulgariaApril 4, 1904 · 11 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.24 km ESE of Rrëshen, AlbaniaAugust 4, 1905 · 257 km W of this epicenter
- 6.115 km NE of Bobov Dol, BulgariaOctober 8, 1905 · 66 km N of this epicenter
- 5.9Montenegro-Albania border regionJune 3, 1905 · 300 km W of this epicenter
- 5.84 km NE of Makedonski Brod, North MacedoniaApril 30, 1905 · 151 km W of this epicenter
- 5.58 km NNE of Mándalo, GreeceNovember 18, 1905 · 124 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 22 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 140 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1905M6.6
Shkoder
1 Jun 1905 · 284 km away · intensity X
120 deaths$24 million damage
- 1905M7.2
Aegean Sea
8 Nov 1905 · 240 km away · intensity X
11 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1902M6.5
Thessaloniki
5 Jul 1902 · 118 km away · intensity IX
5 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1893
Nw: Popovic
8 Apr 1893 · 298 km away · intensity X
3 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1893M6.5
Samothraki
9 Feb 1893 · 258 km away · intensity X
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1904M7.8
Struma
4 Apr 1904 · 17 km away · intensity XI
Severe damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.