December 31, 1975 Earthquake: Kato-Makrinou, Greece

Date

December 31, 1975

Time

09:45:47 UTC

Place

Kato-Makrinou, Greece

Magnitude

5.5 (Ms)

Magnitude scales

Ms 5.5 · mb 5.4

Focal depth

19 km (12 mi)

Intensity

IX, violent shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale

Tsunami

None recorded

Epicenter

38.628° N, 21.798° E

Country

Greece

Region

Southern Europe

USGS record

The USGS’s page for this earthquake

Ms: surface-wave magnitude. mb: body-wave (P-wave) magnitude. NCEI’s headline magnitude is the best of these for the earthquake.

Deaths

1

Injuries

10

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.

1. #1053 National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) (1971 to 2013). Preliminary Determination of Epicenters (PDE), a weekly and monthly publication, National Earthquake Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Golden, Colorado, 1971 to 2013.
2. #1167 Rothe, J.P. (1974-1975). Annual Summary of Information on Natural Disasters, UNESCO, Paris, France, no. 9 (1974, missing from archives) and no. 10 (1975), 107 p.

• December 856, Korinthos,patrai (Patras), Greece45,000 deaths · 126 km
• July 7, 551, Schisma, Boetia, GreeceM7.1 · 5,000 deaths · 51 km
• June 426 BC, Euboea, GreeceM7.1 · 2,500 deaths · 84 km
• September 30, 1636, Cephalonia, GreeceM7.2 · 520 deaths · 143 km
• August 12, 1953, Lixouri-Argostoli (Kephallenia), GreeceM7.2 · 476 deaths · $100 million · 30,439 houses destroyed · 94 km
• December 29, 1820, Zakinthos (Zante), GreeceM6.9 · 388 deaths · 379 houses destroyed · 109 km
• August 27, 1886, Triphylie (Peleponese), Philiatra, GreeceM6.8 · 326 deaths · 6,000 houses destroyed · 170 km
• July 11, 1767, Kefalonia, GreeceM6.7 · 303 deaths · 2,642 houses destroyed · 123 km
• April 20, 1894, Locride, Malesina-Martinon (Lokris), GreeceM6.7 · 255 deaths · 122 km
• February 4, 1867, Cephalonia, GreeceM7.2 · 223 deaths · 3,200 houses destroyed · 127 km
• September 7, 1999, Athens, GreeceM6 · 143 deaths · $4.2 billion · 53,000 houses destroyed · 167 km
• August 23, 1817, Aeghion, Achaia, GreeceM6.6 · 128 deaths · 58 km
• February 25, 1742, Zakynthos, GreeceM6.6 · 120 deaths · 123 km
• August 1, 1870, Itea Delphi (Phokis), GreeceM7 · 100 deaths · 63 km
• September 30, 1870, GreeceM7.5 · 100 deaths · 63 km

Significant earthquakes of 1975The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1975Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history

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 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 4706. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event usp0000e68, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.