All earthquakes
1.5
very light
EARTHQUAKE DETAILS

3 km North-West of Carfizzi

19 months ago · 3 Feb, 20:10

A very light earthquake, probably not felt by people. At this depth the shaking is felt, but rarely causes damage.

Stronger than 68% of Italian events in the past year

Where

3 km North-West of CarfizziEarthquakes in the province of CrotoneEarthquakes in Calabria

How far away could it be felt?

A quake this small is usually not felt by people: only seismographs record it.

Statistical estimate from the Italian intensity attenuation model (INGV): actual perception depends on geology, buildings and depth. Very shallow events can be felt locally even below the threshold.

Earthquake map

49 events
Magnitude:lightweakmoderatestrong

The energy released

How much energy this quake unleashed, translated into everyday comparisons.

2.7kgof TNT equivalent
Less than the energy of a lightning bolt
M3
A magnitude 3 earthquake releases ×178 its energy
M1this quakeM3

Each extra magnitude unit releases about 32 times more energy: an M5 is not "a bit stronger" than an M4 — it is a different league.

Energy estimated with the standard Gutenberg–Richter relation; an average lightning bolt ≈ 1 billion joules. Indicative values.

The race of the seismic waves

Two waves set off from the hypocentre: the faster P wave arrives first with a sharp jolt; the S wave carries the actual shaking.

P waves — the first sharp jolt (~6 km/s)S waves — the strongest shaking (~3.5 km/s)
t ≈ 19 s

Animation sped up ~4× compared to reality.

  • Crotone
    29 km from the epicentre
    first tremor in ~7 s
    main shaking in ~11 s
  • Corigliano-Rossano
    55 km from the epicentre
    first tremor in ~10 s
    main shaking in ~18 s
  • Catanzaro
    60 km from the epicentre
    first tremor in ~11 s
    main shaking in ~19 s
  • Cosenza
    61 km from the epicentre
    first tremor in ~11 s
    main shaking in ~19 s

Theoretical times with average crustal speeds: real values vary with geology. The gap between P and S waves is what earthquake early-warning systems rely on.

How deep it was born

27 km
medium depth
3 times the height of Mount Everest

At this depth the shaking is felt, but rarely causes damage.

deeper than the area average (~20 km)

For the same magnitude, a shallow earthquake is felt much more than a deep one: the energy starts closer to the surface.

What kind of quake is this?

Foreshock

In hindsight it was a foreshock: 19 months ago the same area had a stronger quake (M3.8). This can only be said after the fact — it was not predictable beforehand.

3.8
The mainshock
5 km West of Crotone
19 months ago · 18 Feb, 14:11
Activity in the area right now (30 km radius)
0
last 24 hours
2
last 7 days
4
last 30 days
13 before35 after
this quake
Strongest of the sequence3.8

How often does it happen here?

about every ~8 days

Within 50 km of this epicentre, a magnitude ≥ 2 earthquake has occurred on average this often: 548 events in the last 12 years of the INGV catalogue.

An average computed on the recent past: it tells how used this area is to shaking, not when the next quake will come — earthquakes cannot be predicted.

The great earthquakes in this area's history

Almost a thousand years of catalogues: the strongest documented events within ~50 km.

16386.8
Crotonese earthquake
8 June 1638 · 16 km from here
XCompletely destructive: most buildings are destroyed.
18326.7
Crotonese earthquake
8 March 1832 · 30 km from here
XCompletely destructive: most buildings are destroyed.
18366.2
Calabria settentrionale earthquake
25 April 1836 · 32 km from here
XCompletely destructive: most buildings are destroyed.
17445.7
Sila Piccola earthquake
21 March 1744 · 38 km from here
IXDestructive: many buildings partly or fully collapse.

Source: Parametric Catalogue of Italian Earthquakes CPTI15 (INGV, CC BY 4.0).

The closest seismic structure

Crotone-Rossano

The epicentre lies about 9 km from Crotone-Rossano, one of the seismic structures mapped by INGV geologists.

estimated maximum magnitude 7.3between 3 and 12 km deep

Faults are mapped to build better and understand the territory: knowing them says nothing about when an earthquake will occur, which remains unpredictable. Source: DISS 3.3 (INGV, CC BY 4.0).

Other quakes in the area

1.4
11 km East of Crosia
30 km North · 23 km
19 months ago
8 Feb, 10:16
1.4
2 km North of Pallagorio
6 km West · 25 km
19 months ago
29 Jan, 15:17
0.9
4 km South-East of Umbriatico
2 km South-West · 27 km
19 months ago
29 Jan, 07:46
0.9
4 km South of Pietrapaola
19 km North-West · 28 km
19 months ago
29 Jan, 06:23
1.4
19 months ago
29 Jan, 04:23
1.2
6 km South of Pietrapaola
20 km North-West · 29 km
19 months ago
10 Feb, 16:18
1.1
5 km North-West of Cotronei
30 km South-West · 19 km
19 months ago
11 Feb, 00:15
1.0
3 km West of Carfizzi
2 km South · 31 km
19 months ago
25 Jan, 23:05
0.4
19 months ago
25 Jan, 19:03
1.4
3 km West of Campana
17 km West · 33 km
19 months ago
16 Feb, 08:35

Data: INGV — National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (CC-BY 4.0)

Estimates computed by Meteare on INGV data (Gutenberg–Richter relation; Italian macroseismic intensity attenuation model).

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