Reviewed by USGSMontenegro47y ago
M4.2 earthquake 10 km ENE of Ulcinj, Montenegro
Friday, September 21, 1979, 12:02:42 UTC · 41.958°N, 19.348°E
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 10 km ENE of Ulcinj, Montenegro on Friday, September 21, 1979, 12:02:42 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.2
- Light · 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
30 tons of TNT
That is about 1/500 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 16 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
329 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 158 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 · 19 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.76 km NW of Lukovo, North MacedoniaNovember 30, 1967 · 118 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.73 km SW of Kuklis, North MacedoniaMarch 8, 1931 · 281 km E of this epicenter
- 6.617 km NNW of Bilisht, AlbaniaFebruary 18, 1911 · 185 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.59 km E of Stari Bar, MontenegroJune 1, 1905 · 17 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.24 km ENE of Baška Voda, CroatiaJanuary 11, 1962 · 248 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.211 km SSW of Maliq, AlbaniaMay 26, 1960 · 183 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.28 km WSW of Budva, MontenegroMay 24, 1979 · 59 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 73 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 4,500 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1851M6.6
Vlore (Valona),Berat; Turkey
12 Oct 1851 · 165 km away · intensity XI
2,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1963M6.0
Macedonia: Skopje
26 Jul 1963 · 162 km away · intensity X
1,070 deaths$1.0 billion damage
- 1851
Berat
17 Oct 1851 · 165 km away · intensity X
400 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1920M6.2
Tepelene, Dragoti, Peshtani, Maricaj
26 Nov 1920 · 203 km away · intensity XI
200 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1979M6.9
Montenegro
15 Apr 1979 · 19 km away · intensity IX
131 deaths$2.7 billion damagetsunami
- 1905M6.6
Shkoder
1 Jun 1905 · 26 km away · intensity X
120 deaths$24 million damage
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.