Reviewed by USGSAlbania7y ago
M4.4 earthquake 4 km WSW of Shijak, Albania
Saturday, September 21, 2019, 16:10:36 UTC · 41.327°N, 19.518°E
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 4 km WSW of Shijak, Albania on Saturday, September 21, 2019, 16:10:36 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). USGS received 3 “Did You Feel It?” reports, with a maximum reported intensity of VII (very strong).
- Magnitude
- 4.4
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 10 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 3
- Max intensity VII
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
60 tons of TNT
That is about 1/251 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 8 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
272 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
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
Reports sent by people to USGS, grouped by place (most reports first). Intensity uses the Modified Mercalli scale (I–X): what people felt, not the magnitude.
| Place | Intensity | Reports | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tirana, Tirana, Albania | VII · Very strong | 3 | 27 km |
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 50 km
USGS lists 4 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.8 on September 21, 2019. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 269 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.96 km E of Stari Bar, MontenegroApril 15, 1979 · 89 km N of this epicenter
- 6.76 km NW of Lukovo, North MacedoniaNovember 30, 1967 · 86 km E of this epicenter
- 6.73 km SW of Kuklis, North MacedoniaMarch 8, 1931 · 261 km E of this epicenter
- 6.617 km NNW of Bilisht, AlbaniaFebruary 18, 1911 · 131 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.610 km W of Aianí, GreeceMay 13, 1995 · 225 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.59 km E of Stari Bar, MontenegroJune 1, 1905 · 88 km N of this epicenter
- 6.419 km WNW of Préveza, GreeceJune 30, 1948 · 273 km S of this epicenter
- 6.38 km S of Kanaláki, GreeceAugust 14, 2003 · 258 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 109 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 4,721 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1851M6.6
Vlore (Valona),Berat; Turkey
12 Oct 1851 · 93 km away · intensity XI
2,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1963M6.0
Macedonia: Skopje
26 Jul 1963 · 171 km away · intensity X
1,070 deaths$1.0 billion damage
- 1851
Berat
17 Oct 1851 · 93 km away · intensity X
400 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1920M6.2
Tepelene, Dragoti, Peshtani, Maricaj
26 Nov 1920 · 132 km away · intensity XI
200 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1979M6.9
Montenegro
15 Apr 1979 · 89 km away · intensity IX
131 deaths$2.7 billion damagetsunami
- 1905M6.6
Shkoder
1 Jun 1905 · 86 km away · intensity X
120 deaths$24 million damage
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.