The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 4.5 Earthquake at a depth of 27.7 km, less than a kilometer offshore of the town of Bekalta on the east coast of Tunisia, slightly before 4.10 pm local time (slightly before 3.10 pm GMT) on Friday 18 October 2013. There are no reports of any injuries arising from this event, but it was felt along the coast of Tunisia as far north as Tunis, 150 km from the epicenter of the quake, and minor damage to buildings was reported in many areas.
Damage to the interior of a building in Monastir, 23 km from the epicenter of the 18 October 2013 Tunisian Earthquake. Centre Sismologique Euro-Méditerranéen.
Tunisia is not a country generally associated with Earthquakes, but is close to an active tectonic margin, with the boundary between the African and Eurasian Plates running along the north coast of the country, then along the south coast of Sicilly. This is a convergent margin, with the two continental masses being pushed together by the northward movement of Africa. This is a convergent margin, with Africa being partially subducted beneath the Eaurasian Plate and fuelling the volcanoes of southern and western Italy, and compression and folding of the southern part of the Eurasian Plate, causing uplift in the Appenines and Alps.
The approximate location of the 18 October 2013 Tunisian Earthquake. Google Maps.
See also Magnitude 4.2 Earthquake in the Gulf of Valencia, Magnitude 4.3 Earthquake on eastern Sicily, Magnitude 3.9 Earthquake in Tuscany, Earthquake off the north coast of Morocco and Earthquake in northern Italy.
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