M4.4 earthquake 20 km SW of Plužine, Montenegro

Wednesday, April 3, 2024, 10:40:44 UTC · 43.005°N, 18.699°E

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 20 km SW of Plužine, Montenegro on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, 10:40:44 UTC, at a depth of 18.2 km (shallow). USGS received 14 “Did You Feel It?” reports, with a maximum reported intensity of III (weak).

Magnitude: 4.4; Light · mwr
Depth: 18 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 14; Max intensity III
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

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

428 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

18 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
Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik-Neretva, Croatia	III · Weak	3	66 km
Podgorica, Montenegro, Serbia and Montenegro	III · Weak	2	78 km
Čilipi, Dubrovnik-Neretva, Croatia	II · Weak	2	63 km
Pljevlja, Montenegro, Serbia and Montenegro	III · Weak	1	69 km
Bileća, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina	III · Weak	1	32 km
Zenica, Federacija Bosna i Hercegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina	III · Weak	1	148 km
Belgrade, Central Serbia, Serbia and Montenegro	II · Weak	1	249 km
Kobilja Glava, Federacija Bosna i Hercegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina	II · Weak	1	102 km
Postranje, Split-Dalmacija, Croatia	II · Weak	1	60 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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 198 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 76 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 4,024 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1851M6.6
Vlore (Valona),Berat; Turkey
12 Oct 1851 · 291 km away · intensity XI
2,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
1963M6.0
Macedonia: Skopje
26 Jul 1963 · 236 km away · intensity X
1,070 deaths$1.0 billion damage
1851
Berat
17 Oct 1851 · 291 km away · intensity X
400 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1979M6.9
Montenegro
15 Apr 1979 · 109 km away · intensity IX
131 deaths$2.7 billion damagetsunami
1905M6.6
Shkoder
1 Jun 1905 · 125 km away · intensity X
120 deaths$24 million damage
1866M6.6
Narta, Vlore, Kanina
2 Jan 1866 · 297 km away · intensity X
60 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers