Reviewed by USGS47y ago
M4.8 earthquake in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Saturday, August 11, 1979, 12:31:21 UTC · 43.355°N, 18.785°E
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Saturday, August 11, 1979, 12:31:21 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.8 on July 4, 1979.
- Magnitude
- 4.8
- Light · ml
- 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
239 tons of TNT
That is about 1/63 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 2 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
468 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 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M3.7 on August 22, 1979. 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 112 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 · 144 km S of this epicenter
- 6.76 km NW of Lukovo, North MacedoniaNovember 30, 1967 · 262 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.59 km E of Stari Bar, MontenegroJune 1, 1905 · 145 km S of this epicenter
- 6.24 km ENE of Baška Voda, CroatiaJanuary 11, 1962 · 144 km W of this epicenter
- 6.28 km WSW of Budva, MontenegroMay 24, 1979 · 122 km S of this epicenter
- 6.24 km ESE of Rrëshen, AlbaniaAugust 4, 1905 · 202 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.22 km SE of Grabovci, CroatiaDecember 29, 1942 · 127 km W of this epicenter
- 6.2CroatiaJanuary 7, 1962 · 143 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 46 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 1,453 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1963M6.0
Macedonia: Skopje
26 Jul 1963 · 248 km away · intensity X
1,070 deaths$1.0 billion damage
- 1979M6.9
Montenegro
15 Apr 1979 · 144 km away · intensity IX
131 deaths$2.7 billion damagetsunami
- 1905M6.6
Shkoder
1 Jun 1905 · 155 km away · intensity X
120 deaths$24 million damage
- 1942M6.0
Peshkopia, Magellare
27 Aug 1942 · 227 km away · intensity X
43 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1943
Bosnia-Herzegovina
29 Jan 1943 · 178 km away
19 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)
- 1967M6.5
Albania
30 Nov 1967 · 250 km away · intensity X
18 deaths$20 million damage
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.