Reviewed by USGSGreece30y ago
M3.9 earthquake 8 km W of Náousa, Greece
Friday, March 15, 1996, 18:33:56 UTC · 40.643°N, 21.970°E
A magnitude 3.9 earthquake struck 8 km W of Náousa, Greece on Friday, March 15, 1996, 18:33:56 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 3.9
- 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
11 tons of TNT
That is about 1/1,410 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 45 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
185 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
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 426 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.2Aegean SeaNovember 8, 1905 · 233 km E of this epicenter
- 7.07 km SE of Stara Kresna, BulgariaApril 4, 1904 · 164 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.055 km S of Mýrina, GreeceFebruary 19, 1968 · 292 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.96 km E of Stari Bar, MontenegroApril 15, 1979 · 281 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.97 km NNE of Ágios Nikólaos, GreeceSeptember 26, 1932 · 154 km E of this epicenter
- 6.86 km W of Stara Kresna, BulgariaApril 4, 1904 · 160 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.815 km ENE of Póros, GreeceAugust 12, 1953 · 288 km S of this epicenter
- 6.86 km SW of Galaxídhion, GreeceMarch 31, 1965 · 258 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 152 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 6,822 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1851M6.6
Vlore (Valona),Berat; Turkey
12 Oct 1851 · 192 km away · intensity XI
2,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1963M6.0
Macedonia: Skopje
26 Jul 1963 · 171 km away · intensity X
1,070 deaths$1.0 billion damage
- 1953M7.2
Lixouri-Argostoli (Kephallenia)
12 Aug 1953 · 279 km away · intensity X
476 deaths$100 million damagetsunami
- 1851
Berat
17 Oct 1851 · 192 km away · intensity X
400 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1767M6.7
Kefalonia
11 Jul 1767 · 294 km away · intensity X
303 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1894M6.7
Locride, Malesina-Martinon (Lokris)
20 Apr 1894 · 250 km away · intensity X
255 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.