M5.5 earthquake 4 km WSW of Ersekë, Albania

Tuesday, November 23, 2004, 02:26:16 UTC · 40.324°N, 20.629°E

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 4 km WSW of Ersekë, Albania on Tuesday, November 23, 2004, 02:26:16 UTC, at a depth of 15.4 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.5 on August 14, 2003.

Magnitude: 5.5; Moderate · mwc
Depth: 15 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: VI; 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

3 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/6 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 6 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

206 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

15 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 13 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.0 on November 23, 2004. 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 454 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 164 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 7,267 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1851M6.6
Vlore (Valona),Berat; Turkey
12 Oct 1851 · 81 km away · intensity XI
2,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
1963M6.0
Macedonia: Skopje
26 Jul 1963 · 205 km away · intensity X
1,070 deaths$1.0 billion damage
1953M7.2
Lixouri-Argostoli (Kephallenia)
12 Aug 1953 · 226 km away · intensity X
476 deaths$100 million damagetsunami
1851
Berat
17 Oct 1851 · 81 km away · intensity X
400 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1820M6.9
Zakinthos (Zante)
29 Dec 1820 · 291 km away · intensity X
388 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1767M6.7
Kefalonia
11 Jul 1767 · 229 km away · intensity X
303 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

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

Nearby trackers