QuakeScout
Magnitude5.3

Reviewed by USGSCroatia6y ago

M5.3 earthquake 5 km E of Gornja Bistra, Croatia

Sunday, March 22, 2020, 05:24:03 UTC · 45.907°N, 15.970°E

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 5 km E of Gornja Bistra, Croatia on Sunday, March 22, 2020, 05:24:03 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). USGS received 851 “Did You Feel It?” reports, with a maximum reported intensity of VIII (severe). The USGS PAGER alert is yellow: some casualties and damage are possible. It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.3 on July 11, 2000.

Magnitude
5.3
Moderate · mww
Depth
10 km
Shallow
Felt reports
851
Max intensity VIII
Est. shaking
VII
Very strong (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert
Yellow
Impact estimate
Tsunami
No flag
USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 75 km aftershock search areaColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

1 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/11 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 3 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

761 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.

PlaceIntensityReportsDistance
Zagreb, Grad Zagreb, CroatiaVI · Strong17315 km
Ljubljana, Osrednjeslovenska, SloveniaIII · Weak41114 km
Dubrava, Zagreb, CroatiaVII · Very strong3614 km
Ježdovec, Grad Zagreb, CroatiaVI · Strong2519 km
Maribor, Podravska, SloveniaIV · Light2276 km
Graz, Steiermark, AustriaIII · Weak20137 km
Bestovje, Zagreb, CroatiaVI · Strong1018 km
Lučko, Grad Zagreb, CroatiaVI · Strong1020 km
Velenje, Savinjska, SloveniaIII · Weak1084 km
Odra, Grad Zagreb, CroatiaVI · Strong922 km
Sesvete, Grad Zagreb, CroatiaVII · Very strong816 km
Celje, Savinjska, SloveniaV · Moderate866 km
I felt it — report to USGS ↗

USGS PAGER estimate

Who was exposed to shaking

Modelled from the ShakeMap and population data. Alert level yellow: some casualties and damage are possible.

VII · Very strong shaking
285,000 people
VI · Strong shaking
604,000 people
V · Moderate shaking
489,000 people
IV · Light shaking
1.7 million people
III · Weak shaking
591,000 people

Estimated shaking in nearby towns

  • Zagreb- DubravaPopulation 1,300VII · Very strong
  • ZagrebcapitalPopulation 699,000VII · Very strong
  • Zagreb - CentarPopulation 37,000VII · Very strong
  • Donja StubicaPopulation 0VII · Very strong
  • Zagreb- Novi ZagrebPopulation 5,000VI · Strong
  • Stubicke ToplicePopulation 1,800VI · Strong
  • VarazdincapitalPopulation 42,000V · Moderate
  • SisakcapitalPopulation 36,000IV · Light

After the main event

Aftershocks within 75 km

USGS lists 5 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.6 on March 22, 2020. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M4M51h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M5.3
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 3.24 km NNW of Dubrava, Croatia6y ago · 7 km SE of this epicenter
  2. 2.83 km NE of Zagreb, Croatia6y ago · 8 km S of this epicenter
  3. 3.04 km ESE of Gornja Bistra, Croatia6y ago · 1 km SW of this epicenter
  4. 3.47 km ESE of Gornja Bistra, Croatia6y ago · 2 km SE of this epicenter
  5. 4.66 km E of Gornja Bistra, Croatia6y ago · 1 km NE of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 96 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 6.53 km SW of Prato, ItalyMay 6, 1976 · 214 km W of this epicenter
  2. 6.24 km ENE of Baška Voda, CroatiaJanuary 11, 1962 · 294 km S of this epicenter
  3. 6.22 km SE of Grabovci, CroatiaDecember 29, 1942 · 287 km S of this epicenter
  4. 6.11 km WNW of Lestans, ItalyJune 17, 1976 · 241 km W of this epicenter
  5. 6.14 km ENE of Trn, Bosnia and HerzegovinaOctober 27, 1969 · 155 km SE of this epicenter
  6. 6.15 km WSW of Jezero, Bosnia and HerzegovinaOctober 26, 1969 · 160 km SE of this epicenter
  7. 6.05 km NNE of Isola, ItalySeptember 15, 1976 · 218 km W of this epicenter
  8. 6.028 km NNE of Montignano-Marzocca, ItalyOctober 30, 1930 · 298 km SW of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 48 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 1,217 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1976M6.5

    Ne, Balkans Nw: Slovenia: Nw

    6 May 1976 · 214 km away · intensity X

    978 deaths$3.6 billion damage

  2. 1763M6.2

    Gyor; Czechoslovakia: Komarom

    28 Jun 1763 · 262 km away · intensity IX

    83 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)

  3. 1873

    Bellunese

    29 Jun 1873 · 277 km away · intensity X

    55 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)

  4. 1943

    Bosnia-Herzegovina

    29 Jan 1943 · 196 km away

    19 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)

  5. 1930M6.0

    Senigallia

    30 Oct 1930 · 298 km away · intensity IX

    18 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  6. 1969M6.0

    Bosnia-Herzegovina: Banja Luka

    26 Oct 1969 · 153 km away · intensity VIII

    14 deaths$50 million damage

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

Nearby trackers

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