M4.9 earthquake 8 km NW of Budva, Montenegro

Saturday, May 12, 1979, 03:30:34 UTC · 42.331°N, 18.758°E

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck 8 km NW of Budva, Montenegro on Saturday, May 12, 1979, 03:30:34 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.0 on April 20, 1979.

Magnitude: 4.9; Light · ms
Depth: 10 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
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

338 tons of TNT

That is about 1/45 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 1 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

356 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

No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.

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 41 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.2 on May 24, 1979. 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.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 146 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 68 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 8,605 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1731M6.3
Foggia
20 Mar 1731 · 285 km away · intensity X
3,600 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1851M6.6
Vlore (Valona),Berat; Turkey
12 Oct 1851 · 218 km away · intensity XI
2,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
1963M6.0
Macedonia: Skopje
26 Jul 1963 · 211 km away · intensity X
1,070 deaths$1.0 billion damage
1851
Melfi, Rapolla, Barile, Rionero, Mt Vulture
14 Aug 1851 · 294 km away · intensity XI
671 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1851
Berat
17 Oct 1851 · 218 km away · intensity X
400 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1920M6.2
Tepelene, Dragoti, Peshtani, Maricaj
26 Nov 1920 · 259 km away · intensity XI
200 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

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

Nearby trackers