The United States Geological Survey recorded
a Magnitude 5.3 Earthquake at a depth of about 4 km, about 4 km north of the Macedonian capitol Skopje at about 3.10 pm local time about 1.10 pm GMT) on Sunday 11 September 2016. So far 137 people have been reported injured following the event, three of them seriously, including a woman who fell from a first floor balcony, although local authorities report that the majority of these injuries were caused by people panicking as they evacuated buildings rather than by the Earthquake itself. People have reported feeling the quake across most of Macedonia, as well as parts of neighbouring Albania, Serbia and Bulgaria.
Earthquake damage in Skopje, Macedonia, following the 11 September 2016 event. Boris Grdanoski/AP.
The
states of the western Balkan Peninsula form 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.
Outline map showing the approximate positions of the Eurasian (EU), Adriatic (AD) and African (AF) Plates. Di Bucci & Mazzuli (2003).
Witness
accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events,
and the structures that cause them. The international non-profit
organisation Earthquake Report is interested in hearing from people who may have felt this event; if you felt this quake then you can report it to Earthquake Report here.
See also...
Magnitude 3.9 Earthquake in western Serbia. The United States Geological Survey recorded
a Magnitude 3.9 Earthquake at a depth of about 6 km, in the Kolubara
District of western Serbia slightly after 9.45 pm local time (slightly
after 8.45 pm GMT)...
Magnitude 5.0 Earthquake off the coast of Albania. The United States Geological Survey
recorded a Magnitude 5.0 Earthquake at a depth of about...
Five dead in Bosnian mine collapse. Five workers have died and 29 more were trapped underground for about 24
hours following an explosion and cave-in at the Raspotocje Coal Mine
in Zenica in central Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday 4 September
2014. The incident occurred following...
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