The Seismic Monitoring and Research Group at the University of Malta recorded a Magnitude 5.1 Earthquake roughly 129 km to the south of the island, slightly before 0.20 am local time on Saturday 22 April 2023 (slightly before 10.20 pm on Friday 21 April, GMT) . No injuries have been reported but the event was felt across Malta, as well as on parts of Sicily and the Libyan coast.
Malta 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 Tunisia, 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 Eurasian Plate and fueling the volcanoes of southern and western Italy, and compression and folding of the southern part of the Eurasian Plate, causing uplift in the Apennines and Alps.
Outline map showing the approximate positions of the Eurasian (EU), Adriatic (AD) and African (AF) Plates. Di Bucci & Mazzuli (2003).
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