The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 3.1 Earthquake at a depth of 28 km in northern Macedonia, roughly 21 km east of Skopje, slightly after 6.00 pm local time (slightly after 5.00 pm GMT) on Thursday 7 November 2013. There are no reports of any damage or casualties arising from this even, though people did report feeling shaking up to 15 km from the epicenter of the quake.
The approximate location of the 7 November 2013 Macedonian Earthquake. Google Maps.
The western Balkan Peninsula, forms the eastern margin of the Adriatic Plate, a piece of the African Plate that has broken away and is now wedged into the southern part of the Eurasian Plate. This is being squeezed by the impact of Africa into Europe from the south, which is pushing western Italy, which sits on the Eurasian Plate, to the east, and Greece and Turkey, which sit on the Aegean and Anatolian Plates, to the west. This squeezing leads to uplift around the margins of the Adriatic Plate, in the Apennine Mountains of central Italy and the mountain ranges of the west Balkan Peninsula.
See also Magnitude 4.7 Earthquake in northern Greece, Magnitude 5.3 Earthquake in the southeast Carpathian Mountains, Romania, Magnitude 4.6 Earthquake in western Romania, Magnitude 4.1 Earthquake in Montenegro and Earthquake in western Bulgaria.
Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.