August 18, 1973 Earthquake: Sicily, Italy
A magnitude 3.5 earthquake struck Sicily, Italy on August 18, 1973 at 22:38:29 UTC.
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
- August 18, 1973
- Time
- 22:38:29 UTC
- Place
- Sicily, Italy
- Magnitude
- 3.5
- Intensity
- 6 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 37.660° N, 15.167° E
- Country
- Italy
The toll
- 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.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
The NGDC Seismicity Catalog CD collection, Italian catalog, 1000-1976 A.D., PFG is a historical catalog from Italy, provided through the USGS, lists an earthquake on August 18, 1973, 22:38:29 UTC, 37.667 N, 15.167E, intensity VI.
(reference #4109)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- December 28, 1908, Messina, Sicily, Calabria, Italy
- January 9, 1693, Sicily, Calabria, Catania, Italy
- January 11, 1693, Sicily, Calabria, Italy
- February 5, 1783, Tyrrhenian Calabria, Italy
- February 4, 1169, Siracusa (Syracuse), Calabria, Sicily, Italy
- 1137, Catania, Sicily, Italy
- August 6, 1757, Siracusa (Syracuse), Italy
- March 27, 1638, Cosenza,martirano, Nicastro, Calabria, Italy
- November 5, 1659, Panaija, Soriano, Polia, Italy
- February 6, 1783, Messina Straits, Italy
- 1086, Siracusa (Syracuse), Italy
- January 21, 1065, Catania,messina,milazzo,pale, Sicily, Italy
- September 8, 1905, Monteleone, Tropea, Monte Poro, Italy
- June 19, 1640, Badolato, Italy
- September 1, 1726, Palermo, Marsala, Mazzara, Italy
More
Significant earthquakes of 1973The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1973Recent 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 4641.