M5.8 earthquake 18 km E of Raška, Serbia

Sunday, May 18, 1980, 20:02:57 UTC · 43.294°N, 20.837°E

A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck 18 km E of Raška, Serbia on Sunday, May 18, 1980, 20:02:57 UTC, at a depth of 9.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.2 on May 24, 1979.

Magnitude: 5.8; Moderate · ms
Depth: 9 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: VII; Very strong (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 75 km aftershock search areaColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

8 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/2 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 16 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

453 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Aegean Sea and Eurasian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.

Depth: shallow

9 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 75 km

USGS lists 16 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.3 on May 18, 1980. 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 119 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 42 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 1,493 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1963M6.0
Macedonia: Skopje
26 Jul 1963 · 138 km away · intensity X
1,070 deaths$1.0 billion damage
1979M6.9
Montenegro
15 Apr 1979 · 188 km away · intensity IX
131 deaths$2.7 billion damagetsunami
1905M6.6
Shkoder
1 Jun 1905 · 167 km away · intensity X
120 deaths$24 million damage
1931M5.8
Korce
28 Jan 1931 · 300 km away · intensity IX
90 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1942M6.0
Peshkopia, Magellare
27 Aug 1942 · 181 km away · intensity X
43 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1967M6.5
Albania
30 Nov 1967 · 201 km away · intensity X
18 deaths$20 million damage

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

Nearby trackers