Reviewed by USGSBosnia and Herzegovina6y ago
M4.3 earthquake 5 km WSW of Nevesinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sunday, December 1, 2019, 03:03:50 UTC · 43.249°N, 18.049°E
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck 5 km WSW of Nevesinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina on Sunday, December 1, 2019, 03:03:50 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). USGS received 1 “Did You Feel It?” report, with a maximum reported intensity of II (weak).
- Magnitude
- 4.3
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 10 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 1
- Max intensity II
- 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
43 tons of TNT
That is about 1/354 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 11 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
451 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mostar, Federacija Bosna i Hercegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina | II · Weak | 1 | 24 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 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M3.1 on December 3, 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 167 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 · 159 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.76 km NW of Lukovo, North MacedoniaNovember 30, 1967 · 292 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.59 km E of Stari Bar, MontenegroJune 1, 1905 · 162 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.415 km WSW of Mamurras, AlbaniaNovember 26, 2019 · 228 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.24 km ENE of Baška Voda, CroatiaJanuary 11, 1962 · 85 km W of this epicenter
- 6.28 km WSW of Budva, MontenegroMay 24, 1979 · 125 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.24 km ESE of Rrëshen, AlbaniaAugust 4, 1905 · 227 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.22 km SE of Grabovci, CroatiaDecember 29, 1942 · 71 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 70 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 5,130 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1731M6.3
Foggia
20 Mar 1731 · 286 km away · intensity X
3,600 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1963M6.0
Macedonia: Skopje
26 Jul 1963 · 295 km away · intensity X
1,070 deaths$1.0 billion damage
- 1979M6.9
Montenegro
15 Apr 1979 · 159 km away · intensity IX
131 deaths$2.7 billion damagetsunami
- 1905M6.6
Shkoder
1 Jun 1905 · 180 km away · intensity X
120 deaths$24 million damage
- 2019M6.4
Durres, Thumane, Tirana
26 Nov 2019 · 229 km away
51 deaths$1.1 billion damage
- 1942M6.0
Peshkopia, Magellare
27 Aug 1942 · 259 km away · intensity X
43 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.