Magnitude3.1

Reviewed by USGSGreece23y ago

M3.1 earthquake 4 km E of Ioánnina, Greece

Monday, September 22, 2003, 15:48:02 UTC · 39.670°N, 20.900°E

A magnitude 3.1 earthquake struck 4 km E of Ioánnina, Greece on Monday, September 22, 2003, 15:48:02 UTC, at a depth of 38.0 km (shallow).

Magnitude
3.1
Minor · md
Depth
38 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

674 kg of TNT

That is about 1/22,353 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 708 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

135 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

38 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 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M3.5 on September 22, 2003. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M31h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M3.1
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 2.92 km N of Paramythiá, Greece23y ago · 39 km SW of this epicenter
  2. 3.53 km SE of Paramythiá, Greece23y ago · 39 km SW of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 551 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 178 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 7,754 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1851M6.6

    Vlore (Valona),Berat; Turkey

    12 Oct 1851 · 138 km away · intensity XI

    2,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami

  2. 1963M6.0

    Macedonia: Skopje

    26 Jul 1963 · 272 km away · intensity X

    1,070 deaths$1.0 billion damage

  3. 1953M7.2

    Lixouri-Argostoli (Kephallenia)

    12 Aug 1953 · 153 km away · intensity X

    476 deaths$100 million damagetsunami

  4. 1851

    Berat

    17 Oct 1851 · 138 km away · intensity X

    400 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

  5. 1820M6.9

    Zakinthos (Zante)

    29 Dec 1820 · 216 km away · intensity X

    388 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  6. 1886M6.8

    Triphylie (Peleponese), Philiatra

    27 Aug 1886 · 294 km away · intensity X

    326 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers

Closest city pages