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 |
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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 |
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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
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. |
Did You Feel It?
Theoretical P-Wave Travel Times Historical Moment Tensor Solutions Earthquakes: Frequently Asked Questions
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Scientific & Technical Links
European Mediterranean Seismological Centre: Earthquake in Algeria
Institut de Physique du Globe de Strasbourg: Earthquake in Algeria (French)
Algerian Seismological Center: Earthquake History of Algeria Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia: Terremoto in Algeria del 21 maggio 2003 Organizations
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NB:
The region name is an automatically generated name
from the Flinn-Engdahl (F-E) seismic and geographical regionalization scheme.
The boundaries of
these regions are defined at one-degree intervals and therefore differ from
irregular political boundaries.
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