Reviewed by USGSCroatia47y ago
M3.4 earthquake 35 km SSW of Cavtat, Croatia
Tuesday, August 28, 1979, 05:28:36 UTC · 42.299°N, 18.022°E
A magnitude 3.4 earthquake struck 35 km SSW of Cavtat, Croatia on Tuesday, August 28, 1979, 05:28:36 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 3.4
- Minor · mb
- 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
2 tons of TNT
That is about 1/7,931 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 251 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
346 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 146 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 · 100 km E of this epicenter
- 6.76 km NW of Lukovo, North MacedoniaNovember 30, 1967 · 232 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.63 km SSW of Bisaccia Nuova, ItalyJuly 23, 1930 · 267 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.617 km NNW of Bilisht, AlbaniaFebruary 18, 1911 · 294 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.59 km E of Stari Bar, MontenegroJune 1, 1905 · 104 km E of this epicenter
- 6.24 km ENE of Baška Voda, CroatiaJanuary 11, 1962 · 145 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.211 km SSW of Maliq, AlbaniaMay 26, 1960 · 286 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.23 km SW of Montecalvo Irpino, ItalyAugust 21, 1962 · 279 km SW of this epicenter
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 22,987 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1857M6.5
Campania, Potenza
16 Dec 1857 · 279 km away · intensity X
10,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1731M6.3
Foggia
20 Mar 1731 · 227 km away · intensity X
3,600 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1851M6.6
Vlore (Valona),Berat; Turkey
12 Oct 1851 · 244 km away · intensity XI
2,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1732
Ariano, Lucanie, Avellino
29 Nov 1732 · 274 km away · intensity X
1,940 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1930M6.5
Irpinia
23 Jul 1930 · 255 km away · intensity X
1,430 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1963M6.0
Macedonia: Skopje
26 Jul 1963 · 271 km away · intensity X
1,070 deaths$1.0 billion damage
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.