M5.5 earthquake 65 km S of Lithakiá, Greece
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 65 km S of Lithakiá, Greece on Tue, Feb 17, 2009, 1:16 AM GMT+2 (23:16 UTC), 15 km (9 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.5 (Mwc, centroid moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2009-02-16 23:16:38 UTC
- Depth
- 15.0 km (9.3 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 37.130° N, 20.780° E
- Region
- Greece
- Felt reports
- 41
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.5 | Mwc, centroid moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.5 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.5 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
What happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
Felt (II) at Eleousa, Kalamata, Patrai and Preveza, Greece. Also felt at Ambelokipoi, Archaia Olympia, Athens, Athikia, Kiparissos, Larisa, Lithakia, Lixourion, Piraeus, Planos, Tripolis, Valsamata, Varda, Zakinthos and Zitsa. Felt at Gjirokaster, Albania.
From the USGS event page for usp000gu33. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.
Did you feel it?
41 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was IV, light shaking.
Fault motion and ground failure
How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.
- Faulting
- Strike-slip
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 4°, dip 34°, rake 158°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 113°, dip 78°, rake 58°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Station coverage gap
- 37°
- Stations used
- 310
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.5 and up: 0 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
Before
Earthquakes todayGreece earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000gu33 (also filed as us2009ddb7, gcmtc200902162316a, gcmt20090216231638, iscgem13434691). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 2:31 PM UTC.