All earthquakes
1.6
very light
EARTHQUAKE DETAILS

3 km North-West of Santa Domenica Talao

4 months ago · 17 Apr, 11:43

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

Stronger than 74% of Italian events in the past year

Where

3 km North-West of Santa Domenica TalaoEarthquakes in the province of CosenzaEarthquakes 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

23 events
Magnitude:lightweakmoderatestrong

The energy released

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

3.8kgof TNT equivalent
Less than the energy of a lightning bolt
M3
A magnitude 3 earthquake releases ×126 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 ≈ 33 s

Animation sped up ~6× compared to reality.

  • Corigliano-Rossano
    58 km from the epicentre
    first tremor in ~12 s
    main shaking in ~21 s
  • Cosenza
    74 km from the epicentre
    first tremor in ~14 s
    main shaking in ~25 s
  • Potenza
    89 km from the epicentre
    first tremor in ~17 s
    main shaking in ~28 s
  • Lamezia Terme
    107 km from the epicentre
    first tremor in ~19 s
    main shaking in ~33 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

43 km
deep
4.8 times the height of Mount Everest

Being deep, it is felt less at the surface.

deeper than the area average (~24 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?

Aftershock

It is an aftershock: it follows a stronger quake (M2.3, 5 months ago) in the same area. Aftershocks are normal after an earthquake and tend to fade over time.

2.3
The mainshock
0 km North of Laino Castello
5 months ago · 7 Apr, 08:40
Activity in the area right now (30 km radius)
0
last 24 hours
1
last 7 days
11
last 30 days
16 before6 after
this quake
Strongest of the sequence2.3

How often does it happen here?

about every ~11 days

Within 50 km of this epicentre, a magnitude ≥ 2 earthquake has occurred on average this often: 404 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.

19775.9
Golfo di Policastro earthquake
30 December 1977 · 36 km from here
18365.9
Appennino lucano earthquake
20 November 1836 · 32 km from here
IXDestructive: many buildings partly or fully collapse.
19135.6
Calabria settentrionale earthquake
28 June 1913 · 50 km from here
VIII-IXDestructive: many buildings partly or fully collapse.
17085.6
Pollino earthquake
26 January 1708 · 24 km from here
VIII-IXDestructive: many buildings partly or fully collapse.

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

The closest seismic structure

Rimendiello-Mormanno

The epicentre lies about 14 km from Rimendiello-Mormanno, one of the seismic structures mapped by INGV geologists.

estimated maximum magnitude 6.6between 1 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

1.6
1 km West of San Sosti
28 km South-East · 40 km
4 months ago
16 Apr, 21:14
1.4
4 months ago
18 Apr, 05:56
1.5
4 months ago
18 Apr, 05:59
1.0
5 km South of Sapri
26 km North-West · 10 km
4 months ago
16 Apr, 15:58
1.1
3 km North-West of Saracena
25 km East · 9 km
5 months ago
9 Apr, 08:44
1.6
2 km North-East of Maratea
18 km North-West · 9 km
4 months ago
26 Apr, 11:29
0.7
5 km North-West of Saracena
24 km East · 9 km
4 months ago
27 Apr, 00:21
2.3
0 km North of Laino Castello
13 km North-East · 73 km
5 months ago
7 Apr, 08:40
1.0
2 km North-West of Orsomarso
9 km South-East · 32 km
5 months ago
5 Apr, 01:02
1.7
5 months ago
3 Apr, 19:14

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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