On Thursday 28 March 2013, slightly before 5.15 pm local time (slightly before 4.15 pm GMT) the United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 4.1 Earthquake at a depth of 9.1 km, roughly 3 km north of the coastal resort of Budvar. This small enough that serious damage or casualties are unlikely, but large enough to have been felt over a large area.
The location of the 28 March 2013 Earthquake. Google Maps.
The coastal region of Montenegro, and the other states of 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 Eruptions on Stromboli, Magnitude 5.3 quake in southern Italy kills at least one person, Earthquake on the Gulf of Corinth, Modena Plane hit by second major Earthquake and Earthquakes on Sciency Thoughts YouTube.
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