All earthquakes
4.0
moderate
EARTHQUAKE DETAILS

4 km East of Umbriatico

27 months ago · 29 May, 14:07

A moderate earthquake, felt by people in the area. At this depth the shaking is felt, but rarely causes damage.

No. 4 of the month in ItalyStronger than 99% of Italian events in the past yearThe strongest of the past 12 months within 50 km

Where

4 km East of UmbriaticoEarthquakes in the province of CrotoneEarthquakes in Calabria

How far away could it be felt?

An estimate of how far people may have felt this quake.

  • up to ~38 km · felt only by some, at rest
    ≈ 192,000 people live in this area

The coloured rings on the map below show these distances.

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

61 events
Magnitude:lightweakmoderatestrong

The energy released

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

15tof TNT equivalent
63 lightning bolts
M3
×32 the energy of a magnitude 3 earthquake
M3this quakeM5

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
    30 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 ~17 s
  • Cosenza
    62 km from the epicentre
    first tremor in ~11 s
    main shaking in ~19 s
  • Catanzaro
    62 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

25 km
medium depth
2.8 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?

Seismic swarm

It is part of a seismic swarm: many closely spaced quakes in the same area, with no dominant shock. A typical, well-known behaviour of some Italian areas.

Activity in the area right now (30 km radius)
0
last 24 hours
2
last 7 days
3
last 30 days
96 before143 after
this quake
Strongest of the sequence4.0

How often does it happen here?

about every ~1.9 years

Within 50 km of this epicentre, a magnitude ≥ 4 earthquake has occurred on average this often: 6 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 · 18 km from here
XCompletely destructive: most buildings are destroyed.
18326.7
Crotonese earthquake
8 March 1832 · 32 km from here
XCompletely destructive: most buildings are destroyed.
18366.2
Calabria settentrionale earthquake
25 April 1836 · 31 km from here
XCompletely destructive: most buildings are destroyed.
17445.7
Sila Piccola earthquake
21 March 1744 · 40 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 7 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

2.3
2 km South-West of Melissa
9 km South-East · 17 km
27 months ago
29 May, 14:15
2.8
2 km North-East of Carfizzi
4 km South-East · 25 km
27 months ago
29 May, 14:17
2.6
4 km South of Umbriatico
5 km South-West · 20 km
27 months ago
29 May, 14:18
2.6
1 km North-West of Carfizzi
3 km South-East · 26 km
27 months ago
29 May, 14:20
1.8
27 months ago
29 May, 14:38
1.6
2 km North-West of Carfizzi
2 km South · 23 km
27 months ago
29 May, 14:52
1.4
3 km West of Carfizzi
4 km South · 10 km
27 months ago
29 May, 14:57
1.3
3 km West of Umbriatico
7 km West · 10 km
27 months ago
29 May, 15:01
1.6
3 km North-East of Carfizzi
4 km East · 28 km
27 months ago
29 May, 15:12
1.4
3 km South-East of Pallagorio
10 km South-West · 27 km
27 months ago
29 May, 15:13

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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