All earthquakes
1.4
very light
EARTHQUAKE DETAILS

4 km South of Montecalvo in Foglia

102 months ago · 27 Jan, 08:02

A very light earthquake, probably not felt by people. Being deep, it is felt less at the surface.

Stronger than 62% of Italian events in the past year

Where

4 km South of Montecalvo in FogliaEarthquakes in the province of Pesaro e UrbinoEarthquakes in Marche

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

21 events
Magnitude:lightweakmoderatestrong

The energy released

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

1.9kgof TNT equivalent
Less than the energy of a lightning bolt
M3
A magnitude 3 earthquake releases ×251 its energy
M0this quakeM2

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 ≈ 18 s

Animation sped up ~3× compared to reality.

  • Pesaro
    18 km from the epicentre
    first tremor in ~8 s
    main shaking in ~13 s
  • Fano
    27 km from the epicentre
    first tremor in ~8 s
    main shaking in ~14 s
  • Rimini
    30 km from the epicentre
    first tremor in ~9 s
    main shaking in ~15 s
  • Cesena
    49 km from the epicentre
    first tremor in ~11 s
    main shaking in ~18 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

42 km
deep
4.7 times the height of Mount Everest

Being deep, it is felt less at the surface.

deeper than the area average (~10 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: 101 months ago the same area had a stronger quake (M2.4). This can only be said after the fact — it was not predictable beforehand.

2.4
The mainshock
5 km East of Verucchio
101 months ago · 22 Feb, 10:03
Activity in the area right now (30 km radius)
0
last 24 hours
5
last 7 days
27
last 30 days
3 before17 after
this quake
Strongest of the sequence2.4

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: 495 events in the last 11 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.

17816.5
Cagliese earthquake
3 June 1781 · 23 km from here
XCompletely destructive: most buildings are destroyed.
17416.2
Fabrianese earthquake
24 April 1741 · 49 km from here
IXDestructive: many buildings partly or fully collapse.
13896.0
Alta Valtiberina earthquake
18 October 1389 · 40 km from here
IXDestructive: many buildings partly or fully collapse.
17895.9
Alta Valtiberina earthquake
30 September 1789 · 46 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

Urbino-Camerino

The epicentre lies about 8 km from Urbino-Camerino, one of the seismic structures mapped by INGV geologists.

estimated maximum magnitude 6.9between 3 and 9 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

1.0
4 km North of Apecchio
27 km South-West · 10 km
102 months ago
27 Jan, 18:18
1.5
4 km South of Peglio
18 km South-West · 17 km
102 months ago
27 Jan, 19:30
1.0
2 km North-West of Piobbico
24 km South-West · 10 km
102 months ago
28 Jan, 00:02
1.1
3 km North-West of Frontone
29 km South · 16 km
102 months ago
28 Jan, 13:10
0.8
3 km East of Piobbico
23 km South-West · 1 km
102 months ago
31 Jan, 08:55
0.6
4 km North-East of Frontone
29 km South · 19 km
102 months ago
31 Jan, 23:05
1.9
4 km South-East of Cagli
26 km South · 37 km
102 months ago
7 Feb, 16:44
0.8
5 km East of Verucchio
23 km North-West · 10 km
102 months ago
10 Feb, 05:05
0.9
3 km West of Cagli
26 km South · 11 km
103 months ago
11 Jan, 06:16
1.9
103 months ago
7 Jan, 01:17

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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