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Magnitude 6.8 NORTHERN ALGERIA

2003 May 21 18:44:19 UTC

Preliminary Earthquake Report

U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center
World Data Center for Seismology, Denver


	Magnitude	6.8
	Date-Time	Wednesday, May 21, 2003 at 18:44:19 (UTC) - Coordinated Universal Time Wednesday, May 21, 2003 at 07:44:19 PM local time at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
	Location	36.90N 3.71E
	Depth	10.0 kilometers
	Region	NORTHERN ALGERIA
	Reference	60 km (40 miles) ENE of ALGIERS, Algeria 90 km (55 miles) NE of Blida, Algeria 180 km (110 miles) WNW of Setif, Algeria 225 km (140 miles) ENE of Ech-Cheliff, Algeria
	Location Quality	Error estimate: horizontal +/- 3.5 km; depth fixed by location program
	Location Quality Parameters	Nst=387, Nph=397, Dmin=305.6 km, Rmss=1.17 sec, Erho=3.5 km, Erzz=0 km, Gp=61.6 degrees
	Source	USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
	Remarks	At least 2,266 people killed, 10,261 injured, 150,000 homeless, more than 1,243 buildings damaged or destroyed (X) and the infrastructure was damaged in the Algiers-Boumerdes-Reghia- Thenia area. Underwater telecommunication cables were damaged. Damage estimated at 100 million U.S. dollars. A tsunami generated with an estimated wave height of 2 m caused damage to boats off the coast of the Balearic Islands and was also recorded on the coast of Alicante, Castellon and Murcia, Spain. Felt (III) at Palma de Mallorca and Soller, Mallorca and (II) at Calvia and Mahon, Mallorca and Ibiza, Ibiza. Also felt (II) at Albacete, Alcantarilla, Alicante, Barcelona, Cartagena, Castellon, Elda, Molina de Segura, Murcia, Sagunto and Villafranca del Panades, Spain. Felt in Monaco.

Tectonic Setting
The earthquake occurred in the boundary region between the Eurasian plate and the African plate. Along this section of the plate boundary, the African plate is moving northwestward against the Eurasian plate with a velocity of about 6 mm per year. The relative plate motions create a compressional tectonic environment, in which earthquakes occur by thrust-faulting and strike-slip faulting. Analysis of seismic waves generated by this earthquake shows that it occurred as the result of thrust-faulting.

Algeria has experienced many destructive earthquakes. On October 10, 1980, the city of El Asnam (formerly Orleansville and today Ech-Cheliff) was severely damaged by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake that killed at least 5000 people. The site of El Asnam is situated approximately 220 km to the west of the recent earthquake. The same city, as Orleansville, had been heavily damaged on September 9, 1954, by a magnitude 6.7 earthquake that killed over 1000 people. On October 29, 1989, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck about 110 km to the west of the recent earthquake and killed at least 30 people.

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U.S. Department of the Interior \| U.S. Geological Survey URL: http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eq_depot/2003/eq_030521/neic_ubbj.html Contact: NEIC Web Team Last modification: Wenesday, 2003 July 16 12:20 MDT