Italy earthquakes

M4.6 earthquake 2 km NNE of Rotondi, Italy

A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck 2 km NNE of Rotondi, Italy on Sat, Feb 14, 1981, 6:27 PM GMT+1 (17:27 UTC), 10 km (6 mi) below the surface.

San Felice A Cancello forecast More in Italy

Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

Open the live map with earthquakes

The earthquake

Magnitude: 4.6 (mb, body-wave), light
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Sat, Feb 14, 1981, 6:27 PM GMT+1
UTC: 1981-02-14 17:27:44 UTC
Depth: 10.0 km (6.2 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 41.051° N, 14.601° E
Region: Italy
Strongest shaking: VII, very strong shaking
Tsunami flag: No
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

Magnitude estimates

Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.

Mag.	Scale	Computed by	Notes
4.6	mb, body-wave	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · 12 stations
5.18	Mw, moment	ISCGEMSUP	Final · ±0.2

Deaths and damage

From NOAA NCEI’s Significant Earthquake Database (record 4913), matched to this event by time and place.

Deaths: 12
Damage: $500,000

Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA’s full record of this earthquake

What happened

The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.

EIGHT PEOPLE REPORTEDLY DIED AS A RESULT OF HEART ATTACKS, FOUR OTHERS WERE KILLED, AND DAMAGE (VII) WAS PREPORTED.

From the USGS event page for usp0001c6b. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.

Shaking

The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.

Strongest estimated: VII, very strong shaking
Peak ground acceleration: 36.2% of gravity
Peak ground velocity: 3.2 cm/s
Map: Automatic

USGS ShakeMap: estimated shaking intensity around the epicenter — Estimated shaking intensity. Map: USGS ShakeMap.

Did you feel it?

No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Depth from: OPERATOR_ASSIGNED

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.6 and up: 3 in the 60 days after this one and 8 in the 30 days before it.

After

Before

Earthquakes today Italy earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001c6b (also filed as iscgem631290, atlas19810214172746, iscgemsup631290). Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 7:18 PM UTC.