Historic Earthquakes: Tectonic Summary
Magnitude 6.3 GREECE
2003 August 14 05:14:55 UTC
On a broad scale the tectonics of Greece is controlled by the northward migration of the Arabian and African Plates, and the counterclockwise rotation and westward translation of the Anatolian-Aegean block, relative to a fixed Eurasian Plate. The Anatolian-Aegean block is a lens shaped block that stretches west-to-east from near the west coast of Greece to eastern Turkey, and north-to-south from the Black Sea to the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Near the Anatolian-Aegean block's northern border, it is moving westward relative to the Eurasian Plate at roughly 3 cm per year. This recent earthquake occurred in northern Greece, a highly seismic and rapidly deforming region. There is a magnitude 5 or larger earthquake about every two years within 60 km of this recent earthquake.
| Date | Magnitude | Fatalities | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995-06-15 | 6.5 | 26 | Estimate of $660 million |
| 1995-05-13 | 6.6 | None | 5,000 buildings destroyed and 7,000 others damaged in central and northern Greece estimated $450 million |
| 1986-09-13 | 6.0 | 20 | 1,500 buildings damaged or destroyed |
| 1981-02-24 | 6.7 | 16 | Considerable damage in the Athens-Corinth area |
| 1978-06-20 | 6.6 | 50 | Considerable damage in the Thessaloniki area |
| 1965-04-05 | 6.2 | 18 | Between $5 to $25 million |
| 1954-04-30 | 7.1 | 31 | Between $1 to $5 million |
| 1953-08-12 | 7.2 | 800 | More than $25 million |
