June 20, 1978 Earthquake: Thessaloniki, Greece

June 20, 1978, 20:03:21.0 UTC, 40.739 N, 23.229 E, depth 3 km, magnitude 6.1 mb, 6.4 MS. 50 persons killed, many injured and considerable damage in the Thessaloniki area, felt throughout Bulgaria, and in southern Yugoslavia. (reference #1053)

June 20, 1978. Salonica, Greece, 50 killed, $250 million damage. (reference #1250)

June 20, 1978. The earthquake, caused considerable damage, including the total collapse of an 8-story residential building; 50 lives were lost. In general, we find a large city [Thessaloniki] of 700,000 persons that has been shaken by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake, whose hypocenter is 20 to 30 km away and 22 km deep, to cause a peak recorded acceleration of about 0.159 and the total collapse of one tall (8-story) building from among thousands. Most of the deaths from the earthquake occurred in that one building. The tragedy would have been greater if many residents of the building had not been away on vacation on June 20. In the official report of losses resulting from the June 20 earthquakes, initial loss is estimated to be about $200 million (1978 U.S. dollars), and losses during the first few weeks after the earthquake are estimated to be about $10 million per day. It is not entirely clear whether losses in Thessaloniki Prefecture outside the city were included in these figures. (reference #3662)