January 17, 1983 Earthquake: Ionian Sea, Greece

Name: January 17, 1983 Earthquake: Ionian Sea, Greece
Start: 1983-01-17
Location: Ionian Sea, Greece

January 17, 1983 · M7.2

A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Ionian Sea, Greece on January 17, 1983 at 12:41:29 UTC, 14 km below the surface. It caused a tsunami.

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: January 17, 1983
Time: 12:41:29 UTC
Place: Ionian Sea, Greece
Magnitude: 7.2 (Ms)
Magnitude scales: Ms 7.2 · mb 6.1
Focal depth: 14 km (9 mi)
Tsunami: Yes: the tsunami it caused
Epicenter: 38.026° N, 20.228° 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.

The toll

The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this earthquake.

What happened

The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.

Minor damage on Kefallinia, Levkas, and Zakinthos. Also minor damage at Preveza and Killini. Felt in Albania, Italy and southern Yugoslavia. [FS]. FAULT PLANE SOLUTION: P-WAVES NP1:STRIKE=140;DIP=80;SLIP=90 NP2:STRIKE=320;DIP=10;SLIP=90 PRINCIPAL AXES: (T) PLG=55; AZM=50 (P) PLG=35; AZM=230 COMMENT: Moderately well controlled reverse fault type mechanism. NP2 designated as the fault plane. MOMENT TENSOR SOLUTION NO OF STA 10 SCALE 10**26 D-CM PRINCIPAL AXES: (T) VAL=3.14; PLG=20; AZM=14 (N) VAL=-0.30; PLG=67; AZM=159 (P) VAL=-2.84; PLG=12; AZM=279 BEST DOUBLE COUPLE:Mo=3.0*10**26 NP1:STRIKE=55;DIP=67;SLIP=175 NP2:STRIKE=147;DIP=85;SLIP=23 CENTROID, MOMENT TENSOR SOLUTION HARVARD EVENT-FILE NAME C011783A DATA USED: GDSN L.P. BODY WAVES: 19S, 54C, T=45 MANTLE WAVES: 11S, 31C, T=135 CENTROID LOCATION: ORIGIN TIME 12:41:44.7 0.3 LAT 38.13N 0.04;LON 20.38E 0.03 DEP 10.1 FIX;HALF-DURATION 10.0 MOMENT TENSOR; SCALE 10**26 D-CM MRR=0.33 0.02; MTT=0.54 0.02 MFF=-0.87 0.01; MRT=1.03 0.09 MRF=-1.98 0.09; MTF=0.17 0.02 PRINCIPAL AXES: 1.(T) VAL=2.16;PLG=50;AZM=48 2.(N) 0.38; 12; 152 3.(P) -2.53; 38; 252 BEST DOUBLE COUPLE:M0=2.4*10**26 NP1:STRIKE=34;DIP=14;SLIP=153 NP2:Strike=151;Dip=84;Slip=78

From the USGS event page for usp0001sa1. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.

Magnitude estimates

The magnitudes the USGS catalog lists for this earthquake, by scale and by who computed them. NCEI’s own scales are in the table above.

Mag.	Scale	Computed by	Notes
7.0	Mw, moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed
6.85	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

Minor damage on Kefallinia, Levkas, and Zakinthos. Also minor damage at Preveza and Killini. Felt in Albania, Italy, and southern Yugoslavia (now Montenegro). (reference #1053)

Sources NCEI cites

The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.

#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.

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

Significant earthquakes of 1983 The 1900s Every quake the USGS located in 1983 Recent earthquakes near here This 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 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 7283. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event usp0001sa1, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.