Reviewed by USGSGreece44y ago
M4.0 earthquake 19 km W of Míthymna, Greece
Wednesday, September 15, 1982, 22:23:28 UTC · 39.363°N, 25.951°E
A magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck 19 km W of Míthymna, Greece on Wednesday, September 15, 1982, 22:23:28 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.0
- 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
15 tons of TNT
That is about 1/998 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 32 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
29 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Aegean Sea and Anatolian plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
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 M3.5 on October 9, 1982. 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 263 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.719 km SSE of Amorgós, GreeceJuly 9, 1956 · 300 km S of this epicenter
- 7.37 km N of Gönen, TurkeyMarch 18, 1953 · 171 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.2Aegean SeaNovember 8, 1905 · 139 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.225 km SE of Malkara, TurkeyAugust 9, 1912 · 182 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.261 km W of Eresós, GreeceDecember 19, 1981 · 64 km W of this epicenter
- 7.29 km NNW of Karaburun, TurkeyJuly 23, 1949 · 85 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.03 km ESE of Soma, TurkeyNovember 18, 1919 · 148 km E of this epicenter
- 7.05 km NNW of Kéfalos, GreeceJune 26, 1926 · 298 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 99 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 34,892 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1883M7.3
Ayvalik, Izmir, Cesme
15 Oct 1883 · 120 km away · intensity X
15,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1881M7.3
Khios; Turkey: Cesme
3 Apr 1881 · 126 km away · intensity XI
7,866 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1912M7.2
Marmara Sea
9 Aug 1912 · 182 km away
2,800 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1855M6.7
Tayabas, Bursa
28 Feb 1855 · 285 km away · intensity X
2,200 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1894M6.7
Turkey
10 Jul 1894 · 272 km away · intensity X
1,349 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1855M6.7
Bursa
29 Apr 1855 · 285 km away
1,300 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.