Wednesday 14 September 2016

Numerous injuries after Macedonian Earthquake.

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.
 
 The approximate location of the 11 September 2016 Skopje Earthquake. Google.
See also...
http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/magnitude-39-earthquake-in-western.htmlMagnitude 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)...
http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/magnitude-50-earthquake-off-coast-of.htmlMagnitude 5.0 Earthquake off the coast of Albania.                                                         The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 5.0 Earthquake at a depth of about...
http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/five-dead-in-bosnian-mine-collapse.htmlFive 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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