__NOTOC__ On 5 September 1996 at 22:44 local time ( CEST, 20:44 UTC), southern

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, was hit by a strong earthquake of

moment magnitude The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mwg, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. was defined in a 1979 paper ...

6.0. The epicentre was near the coastline of the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

, close to the village of

Slano Slano is a village in southern Croatia with a small harbour in the bay of the same name. It is located 27 km northwest of Dubrovnik. History The area of Slano was already populated in the prehistoric period (ruins of a hill-fort and tumuli ...

, roughly northwest of

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

. The worst damage was of intensity VIII on the

Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karnik scale The Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karnik scale, also known as the MSK or MSK-64, is a macroseismic intensity scale used to evaluate the severity of ground shaking on the basis of observed effects in an area where an earthquake transpires. The scale was f ...

, occurring in the epicentral area, but also another northwest, at the isthmus of the

Pelješac Pelješac (; Chakavian: ; ) is a peninsula in southern Dalmatia in Croatia. The peninsula is part of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County and is the second largest peninsula in Croatia. From the isthmus that begins at Ston, to the top of Cape Loviš ...

peninsula, around the old town of

Ston Ston () is a settlement and a municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia, located at the south of isthmus of the Pelješac peninsula. History Because of its geopolitical and strategic position, Ston has had a rich history since ...

Damage

Three villages were completely destroyed, and there was damage in much of southern Dalmatia, up to

Zagvozd Zagvozd is a village and a seat of Zagvozd municipality in the Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. In 2011 it had a population of 767. Demographics In 2021, the municipality had 957 residents in the following 7 settlements: * Biokovsko Selo, populat ...

and Grabovac. About 1,400 buildings were damaged and 474 rendered uninhabitable in the epicentral area. Cracks of up to in width appeared in the Walls of Ston. Some of the destroyed buildings had been weakened by a 4.7 earthquake off

Mljet Mljet () is the southernmost and easternmost of the larger Adriatic islands of the Dalmatia region of Croatia. In the west of the island is the Mljet National Park. Population In the 2011 census, Mljet had a population of 1,088. Ethnic Croats mad ...

in July 1995. Fortunately, there were no fatalities. However, several people were injured, and more than 2,000 were displaced according to the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

. According to the

Croatian Radiotelevision ''Hrvatska radiotelevizija'' ( HRT), or Croatian Radiotelevision, is a Croatian public broadcasting company. It operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmitter network as well as satellite. HRT is divided into three ...

, there were no injuries. Landslides and collapsed structures blocked the roads to the villages of Mravinca, Trnova and Podimoć. One of the aftershocks temporarily blocked the

Adriatic Highway The Adriatic Highway () is a road that stretches along the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea and is part of the European route E65. The road passes through Croatia, with smaller stretches through Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro and end ...

, the principal thoroughfare of the Dubrovnik region. Massive boulders were dislodged and rolled down the mountain, in one case colliding with a house. The earthquake reduced groundwater levels, and created a submarine spring between Ston and Doli, where the emitted soil and mud temporarily turned the sea red. The town of Ston took about a decade to recover from the effects of the earthquake.

Earthquake

This was the largest earthquake with an epicentre in the Dubrovnik area since the violent

1667 Dubrovnik earthquake The 1667 Dubrovnik earthquake was one of the three most devastating earthquakes to hit what is now modern Croatia in the last 2,400 years, since records began. The entire city was almost destroyed and around 3,000 to 5,000 people were killed. The ...

, and the peak horizontal acceleration (PGA) of 0.643 ''g'' measured at the Ston saltworks remains the highest observed in Croatia. The significant degree of soil amplification in Ston caused high PGA values of up to 0.313 ''g'' in some of the aftershocks as well. The rupture began on the reverse Slano Fault or possibly on the Pelješac Fault, beginning from Slano and continuing for about northwestwards to Ston, where the ground displacement reached . Multiple faults were activated during the earthquake. The shock was felt up to away from the epicentre, and was followed by more than 1,800 aftershocks over the course of a year.

Aftershocks

References

Sources

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External links