April 4, 1904 Earthquake: Struma, Bulgaria
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Struma, Bulgaria on April 4, 1904 at 10:27 UTC, 15 km below the surface.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- April 4, 1904
- Time
- 10:27 UTC
- Place
- Struma, Bulgaria
- Magnitude
- 7.8 (Ms)
- Focal depth
- 15 km (9 mi)
- Intensity
- 11 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 41.800° N, 23.200° E
- Country
- Bulgaria
The toll
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
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.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
On April 4, 1904, there were two catastrophic earthquakes in the Struma valley at 41.8 N, 23.2 E, depth 15 km: 10:03 UTC (magnitude 7.5, intensity X) and 10:27 UTC (magnitude 7.75, intensity X-XI). There were 29 aftershocks until the end of 1905. Several villages were entirely destroyed. (reference #1004)
Reference #1002 lists earthquake on April 4, 1904, magnitude 7.5, in Pirin Mountains, Bulgaria.
Reference #130 lists earthquake on April 4, 1904, 10:26:00 UTC, 41.75 N, 23.25 E, magnitude 7.5.
Reference #1173 lists earthquake on April 4, 1904, 10:26 UTC, 41.75 N, 23.25 E, magnitude 7.5.
Reference #1093 lists earthquake on April 4, 1904, intensity XI.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- July 26, 1963, Skopje, Macedonia, Balkans NW, North Macedonia
- September 26, 1932, Hierissos-Strantonion (Chalkidiki), Greece
- April 14, 1928, Chirpan, Bulgaria
- June 20, 1978, Thessaloniki, Greece
- February 25, 1983, Skopje, Macedonia, Balkans NW, North Macedonia
- July 5, 1902, Thessaloniki, Greece
- December 21, 1990, Edhessa, Kilkis, Greece
- April 24, 2002, N, Kosovo, Macedonia, Balkans NW, Serbia
- April 4, 1904, Struma, Bulgaria
- September 4, 896, Macedonia, Balkans NW, North Macedonia
- October 8, 1905, Bulgaria
- May 24, 2009, Macedonia, Balkans NW, North Macedonia
- 1641, Bulgaria
- November 3, 1977, Velingrad, Romania
- September 28, 1985, Demir Kapija-Negotino, Macedonia, Balkans NW, North Macedonia
More
Significant earthquakes of 1904The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1904Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 2671.