Reviewed by USGSMontenegro47y ago
M3.7 earthquake 16 km SSW of Plužine, Montenegro
Wednesday, August 22, 1979, 02:01:53 UTC · 43.009°N, 18.797°E
A magnitude 3.7 earthquake struck 16 km SSW of Plužine, Montenegro on Wednesday, August 22, 1979, 02:01:53 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 3.7
- Minor · 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
5 tons of TNT
That is about 1/2,814 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 89 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
430 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 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 127 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 · 107 km S of this epicenter
- 6.76 km NW of Lukovo, North MacedoniaNovember 30, 1967 · 231 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.59 km E of Stari Bar, MontenegroJune 1, 1905 · 108 km S of this epicenter
- 6.24 km ENE of Baška Voda, CroatiaJanuary 11, 1962 · 151 km W of this epicenter
- 6.28 km WSW of Budva, MontenegroMay 24, 1979 · 84 km S of this epicenter
- 6.24 km ESE of Rrëshen, AlbaniaAugust 4, 1905 · 169 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.22 km SE of Grabovci, CroatiaDecember 29, 1942 · 138 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.2CroatiaJanuary 7, 1962 · 147 km W 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 3,949 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1851M6.6
Vlore (Valona),Berat; Turkey
12 Oct 1851 · 289 km away · intensity XI
2,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1963M6.0
Macedonia: Skopje
26 Jul 1963 · 229 km away · intensity X
1,070 deaths$1.0 billion damage
- 1851
Berat
17 Oct 1851 · 289 km away · intensity X
400 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1979M6.9
Montenegro
15 Apr 1979 · 107 km away · intensity IX
131 deaths$2.7 billion damagetsunami
- 1905M6.6
Shkoder
1 Jun 1905 · 121 km away · intensity X
120 deaths$24 million damage
- 1866M6.6
Narta, Vlore, Kanina
2 Jan 1866 · 296 km away · intensity X
60 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.