M4.0 earthquake 3 km SSE of Peştişani, Romania

Wednesday, February 22, 2023, 06:25:58 UTC · 45.036°N, 23.053°E

A magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck 3 km SSE of Peştişani, Romania on Wednesday, February 22, 2023, 06:25:58 UTC, at a depth of 10.2 km (shallow). USGS received 80 “Did You Feel It?” reports, with a maximum reported intensity of VII (very strong).

Magnitude: 4.0; Light · mb
Depth: 10 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 80; 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

15 tons of TNT

That is about 1/998 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 32 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

563 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

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
Godineşti, Gorj, Romania	V · Moderate	9	12 km
Târgu Jiu, Gorj, Romania	III · Weak	9	19 km
Băleşti, Gorj, Romania	VI · Strong	8	16 km
Arcani, Gorj, Romania	II · Weak	8	12 km
Teleşti, Gorj, Romania	VII · Very strong	2	11 km
Cornereva, Caraş-Severin, Romania	III · Weak	2	51 km
Râu de Mori, Hunedoara, Romania	II · Weak	2	52 km
Kladovo, Central Serbia, Serbia and Montenegro	VI · Strong	1	59 km
Cugir, Alba, Romania	VI · Strong	1	94 km
Fârliug, Caraş-Severin, Romania	VI · Strong	1	107 km
Târnova, Caraş-Severin, Romania	VI · Strong	1	89 km
Coşoveni, Dolj, Romania	VI · Strong	1	113 km

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 50 km

USGS lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.9 on March 20, 2023. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

4.92 km SSE of Arcani, Romania3y ago · 8 km NE of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 68 M5.0+ earthquakes 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 29 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 1,707 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1977M7.5
Bucharest
4 Mar 1977 · 297 km away
1,641 deaths$2.0 billion damage
1838M6.9
Carpathian Fold,Vrancea
23 Jan 1838 · 287 km away · intensity VIII
42 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1990M6.7
Bucharest, Braila, Brasov
30 May 1990 · 296 km away · intensity VI
14 deaths$24 million damage
1893
Nw: Popovic
8 Apr 1893 · 174 km away · intensity X
3 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1986M6.9
Bucharest, Kishinev-Kagul
30 Aug 1986 · 262 km away · intensity VIII
2 deaths$730 million damage
2010M5.5
Serbia: Kraljevo
3 Nov 2010 · 236 km away · intensity VI
2 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers