1986 Kalamata earthquake

Earthquake in Greece October 2026 October 2026 1986 Kalamata earthquake Greece Topographic map of Greece and the Aegean Sea with a bullseye marking the epicenter near the southwestern coast of the Peloponnese in southern Greece 1986-09-13 17:24:31 486403 usp0002y1v yes 1986 09 13 20:24 EET 5.9 w y 12.5 km on 37.014 22.176 region:CD_type:event inline,title Normal Greece X 20–22 dead, 330 injured The 1986 Kalamata earthquake struck The Peloponnese of southern Greece on September 13 at 20:24 Eastern European Time (EET). The 12.5 km on deep moment magnitude (w) 5.9 earthquake struck with an epicenter near Kalamata. At least 20 people died and 330 were injured; a higher death toll was prevented because many residents of Kalamata attended a ferry line opening ceremony when the earthquake struck. In the city, six people died when an apartment building collapsed, and three died when the defensive towers of a monestary came down. Six others died from falling debris. More than 100 buildings were severely damaged or destroyed. In the nearby village of Elaiochori, four people died and 70 percent of its buildings were destroyed. Members of the Greek Army, police, and fire service were involved in rescuing people trapped in buildings. Rescue teams from France and Germany also assisted. Survivors sought refuge at 30 campsites, and some moved to other areas like Athens. At Asprochoma, an emergency radio station was set up in a field and which would later become ERT Kalamata. The earthquake resulted from normal faulting along a northwest-dipping fault called the Kalamata Fault. It initiated in a relay zone between the Kalamata and Thouria faults as a small event before transitioning onto the Kalamata Fault to the south. The shock produced a 15 km long surface rupture east of Kalamata with up to 18 cm of vertical offset. Two strong ground motion sensors in Kalamata captured horizontal and vertical ground acceleration data with values exceeding 0.1 g. Tectonic setting Extensional tectonics Geology of Greece Greece is located in a complex zone of interaction between the African plate and the Aegean Sea. Along the Hellenic arc, the African plate subducts beneath the Aegean; shallow earthquakes occur northwest of Crete because of subduction-related deformation along a convergent boundary. Back-arc crustal extension of the Aegean northeast of Crete causes normal and strike-slip faulting earthquakes. Intermediate events more than 100 km beneath the Aegean also occur within the subducting African plate.Matthew W. Herman Gavin P. Hayes Gregory M. Smoczyk Rebecca Turner Bethan Turner Jennifer Jenkins Sian Davies Amy Parker Allison Sinclair Harley M. Benz Kevin P. Furlong Antonio Villaseñor Open-File Report Seismicity of the Earth 1900‒2013 Mediterranean Sea and vicinity https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/ofr20101083Q 2015 United States Geological Survey 11 August 2021 Open-File Report 2010-1083-Q 10.3133/ofr20101083Q free The Peloponnese region is characterized by active extensional tectonics which has continued since the Pliocene. Active east–west extension is accommodated by north–south striking normal faults.Lyon-Caen Armijo Drakopoulos Baskoutass 1988 14,969 East of Kalamata, the Taygetus range is bounded by north–south trending normal faults. The fault at the eastern boundary of the range, called the Kalamata Fault, was associated with the earthquake.Lyon-Caen Armijo Drakopoulos Baskoutass 1988 14,969 The Kalamata Fault is part of a larger system of north-northwest–south-southeast trending, west-dipping en échelon normal faults that bound the range and Pamisos river plain.Lyon-Caen Armijo Drakopoulos Baskoutass 1988 1Lyon-Caen Armijo Drakopoulos Baskoutass 1988 14,972 The continuation of this system north of the Kalamata Fault is the Thouria Fault; a 25 km west–northwest offset separates the Thouria Fault from the Kalamata Fault,Lyon-Caen Armijo Drakopoulos Baskoutass 1988 14,970 known as a relay zone.Lyon-Caen Armijo Drakopoulos Baskoutass 1988 14,982 South of the Kalamata Fault, the system is a complex oblique northwest–southeast trending graben near Kampos which likely extends offshore in the Messenian Gulf as a major fault west of Kardhamili.Lyon-Caen Armijo Drakopoulos Baskoutass 1988 14,972 Believed to have formed during the Quaternary, it was not associated with any historic earthquakes or surface ruptures prior to the 1986 event.Lyon-Caen Armijo Drakopoulos Baskoutass 1988 14,969 The region frequently experience earthquakes and their associated tsunamis and liquefaction such as in 1867 and 1947.S. Stiros V. Kontogianni Modelling of the 1986 Kalamata (SW Greece) earthquake faulting using geodetic data Journal of Applied Geodesy 2008 2 3 179 10.1515/JAG.2008.020 De Gruyter 2008JAGeo...2..179S 128641270 Earthquake The earthquake struck at 20:24 EET on 13 September with a moment magnitude of 5.9. Its epicenter was east of Kalamata, and the focus was at a depth of 12.5 km.ISC-GEM Global Instrumental Earthquake Catalogue (1900–2009) http://www.isc.ac.uk/iscgem/index.php ISC 27 June 2022 International Seismological Centre Version 9.1 It was caused by normal faulting on a shallow, west-dipping plane; subsequent analysis of the aftershock distribution and seismic data determined that the fault dips approximately 45° to the west.Lyon-Caen Armijo Drakopoulos Baskoutass 1988 14,976Lyon-Caen Armijo Drakopoulos Baskoutass 1988 14,982 The Kalamata Fault, ruptured over an area of about 15 by 10 km.Jean-Christophe Gariel Pierre-Yves Bard Kyriazis Pitilakis A theoretical investigation of source, path and site effects during the 1986 Kalamata earthquake (Greece) Geophysical Journal International 1991 104 1 165–177 10.1111/j.1365-246X.1991.tb02502.x free 1991GeoJI.104..165G The mainshock began as a magnitude 4.5–5 subevent within the offset zone between the Thouria and Kalamata faults before transferring onto the Kalamata Fault. Most of the seismic energy was released by slip on the fault.Lyon-Caen Armijo Drakopoulos Baskoutass 1988 14,992–14,994 Surface rupture The Kalamata Fault was interpreted as a listric normal fault where its dip angle is high at the surface and decreases at depth.Papazachos Kiratzi Karacostas Panagiotopoulos 1988 65 At the surface, the fault plane's exposed slickensides on bedrock yielded much steeper dip angles of 60–70°. The surface exposure indicated predominantly normal-faulting displacements with a minor strike-slip movement.Lyon-Caen Armijo Drakopoulos Baskoutass 1988 14,969–14,971 Small fault scarps and surface ruptures were observed 2–3 km east of Kalamata and aligned with the location of a geologically young fault.Papazachos Kiratzi Karacostas Panagiotopoulos 1988 56 These were reported for 15–18 km along a north-northeast–south-southwest trend,Papazachos Kiratzi Karacostas Panagiotopoulos 1988 59 and were intermittently accompanied by a fissure. One of these ruptures was mapped continuously for 4.5 km. Some ruptures measured up to 6–18 cm in vertical height and were 2–6 cm wide.Lyon-Caen Armijo Drakopoulos Baskoutass 1988 14,969–14,974 They often appeared in terraced olive groves near rocky outcrops, and were several tens of centimeters west of a large fault surface.Lyon-Caen Armijo Drakopoulos Baskoutass 1988 14,969–14,974 Heavy damage occurred in homes where the surface rupture propagated beneath.Papazachos Kiratzi Karacostas Panagiotopoulos 1988 59 The most significant surface rupture occurred within an existing north-northeast trending fault trace in the Mesozoic limestone at Elaiochori and Perivolakia. It exhibited a vertical displacement of 10 cm on the northwest side of the fault, horizontal heave of 5–15 cm, and left-lateral offset of 3 cm.Papazachos Kiratzi Karacostas Panagiotopoulos 1988 59 A 2 km rupture occurred along the beach at Paralia Verga, a village southeast of Kalamata, with the WNW side of the rupture displaced vertically by 6 cm and horizontally by 1–10 cm. Some homes atop the rupture were badly damaged.Papazachos Kiratzi Karacostas Panagiotopoulos 1988 58 Some 2.5 km southwest of Nedousa, the fault exhibited 10 cm of vertical slip on the NW side.Papazachos Kiratzi Karacostas Panagiotopoulos 1988 59 Strong ground motion Spectral acceleration + Modified Mercalli intensities in selected locationsEvent 486403 Southern Greece http://www.isc.ac.uk/cgi-bin/web-db-v4?event_id=486403&out_format=IMS1.0&request=COMPREHENSIVE ISC Bulletin: event catalogue search International Seismological Centre 3 July 2021 10.31905/D808B830 subscription MMI Locations X (Extreme) Elaiochori, Perivolakia VII–VIII (Very strong–Severe) Kalamata, Verga, Poliani,Aris, Artemisia, Nedousa V–VI (Moderate–Strong) Achladochori, Chelidoni, Ampheia,Kampos, Andritsaina-Krestena,Goumero, Makrisia Two accelerographs in Kalamata recorded a maximum peak ground acceleration (pga) of 0.27 g in the horizontal component and 0.368 g in the vertical component. Ground motion in excess of 0.1 g lasted for 2.5 seconds while the maximum horizontal velocity was 32.3 cm per second.Pomonis A. Gaspari M. Karababa F. S. Seismic vulnerability assessment for buildings in Greece based on observed damage data sets Bulletin of Geophysics and Oceanography June 2014 55 2 501–534 10.4430/bgta0069 https://bgo.ogs.it/provapage.php?id_articolo=630 15 September 2022 15 September 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220915060022/https://bgo.ogs.it/provapage.php?id_articolo=630 live In Elaiochori, 7 km from Kalamata, the highly amplified spectral accelerations for periods of 0.15 to 1.6 seconds were too extreme for buildings to withstand. Large acceleration were also reported for periods between 0.2 and 0.8 seconds, matching the natural periods of existing buildings. The greater Kalamata and Elaiochori regions were within the meizoseismal area. Downtown Kalamata was assigned Modified Mercalli intensity VIII (Severe) while in the destroyed villages of Elaiochori and Perivolakia, the intensity was X (Extreme). Damage within Kalamata was significantly non-uniform, being heavier in the northern and eastern parts. This was attributed to coseismic rupture characteristics and variations in the local sediment thickness. Aftershocks thumb|right|A strong ground motion map illustrating seismic intensity|alt= Map of displaying ground motion intensity in southern Greece with warm orange and yellow colors indicating strong to severe shaking intensity centered around Kalamata while the surrounding region overlain by green and blue indicating moderate or light shaking Many of the roughly 740 aftershocks recorded in the first two week were caused by normal faulting. They were distributed across a 15 km × 10 km in north and south clustersPapazachos Kiratzi Karacostas Panagiotopoulos 1988 64 with focal depths up to 10 km deep, though none occurred beyond 12 km. The southern cluster is likely linked with the Kalamata Fault and corresponded with the surface rupturing segment. These normal fault shocks exhibited dip angles of 55–60°, steeper than the angle implied from the overall aftershock distribution and of the Kalamata Fault. This discrepancy that may reflect the simplified seismic velocity structure adopted to compute the focal mechanisms, but if the variations are true, could suggest the Kalamata Fault steepen near the surface. Additionally, some aftershocks within the footwall block exhibited thrust faulting.Lyon-Caen Armijo Drakopoulos Baskoutass 1988 14,982–14,990 The northern cluster is more spatially compact and inside the relay zone between the Kalamata and Thouria faults. No surface ruptures were associated with this cluster. Some aftershocks in this cluster were dextral strike-slip events on east-west trending planes perpendidular to the Kalamata Fault.Lyon-Caen Armijo Drakopoulos Baskoutass 1988 14,982–14,990 A gap with relatively low aftershock activity separating the north and south clusters occurred in this zone, measuring 2 km wide and extending 8 km deep. Seismic activity from both clusters merge at depths of 9 to 10 km. This gap may be an unruptured seismic barrier on the Kalamata Fault. Another explanation is that the mainshock actually initiated within the gap, with a precedent being the 1983 Borah Peak earthquake where no aftershocks occurred immediately around the epicenter.Lyon-Caen Armijo Drakopoulos Baskoutass 1988 14,992 The largest aftershock struck on 15 September, measuring s 5.3 with an epicenter south of the mainshock. It had a maximum intensity of VII (Very strong),National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information 1972 https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/earthquake/event-data?country=GREECE 10.7289/V5TD9V7K National Geophysical Data Center NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information caused 37 injuries, and further damage in Kalamata.M 4.9 – 6 km NW of Kardamýli, Greece https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usp0002y3u/executive United States Geological Survey 3 July 2021 Impact At least 20 or 22 people died;Gazoulis Costas Καλαμάτα: 40 χρόνια από τους καταστροφικούς σεισμούς του 1986 – Οι πρώτες ώρες και ημέρες μέσα από το Αρχείο της ΕΡΤ https://www.ertnews.gr/perifereiakoi-stathmoi/kalamata/kalamata-40-xronia-apo-tous-katastrofikous-seismous-tou-1986-oi-protes-ores-kai-imeres-mesa-apo-to-arxeio-tis-ert/ 15 September 2026 EPT News 13 September 2026 el Kalamata: 40 years since the devastating earthquakes of 1986 – The first hours and days through the ERT ArchiveKalamata Earthquake, 1986: Psychological reactions and roles for health care workers Laube Jerri 1987 https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/nhcc/39/ 39 Report Natural Hazards Center Collection Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute more deaths were prevented because most residents attended a ferry line opening ceremony when it occurred.Hope Kerin Death Toll Rises in Kalamata Earthquake https://apnews.com/article/668403d781218107fd73040be0007de3 3 July 2021 Associated Press https://web.archive.org/web/20220328080200/https://apnews.com/article/668403d781218107fd73040be0007de3 28 March 2022 14 September 1986 Kalamata, Greece Six bodies were recovered from a five-story reinforced concrete apartment that collapsed. Another six others died when debris fell onto the streets. One death was related to heart attack and an infant died of suffocation.Liakogonas Vangelis Καλαμάτα – 13 Σεπτεμβρίου 1986: Όταν τα 6,2 ρίχτερ διέλυσαν την πόλη – 35 χρόνια μετά από τον καταστροφικό σεισμό (video, φωτογραφίες) Kalamata – September 13, 1986: When the 6.2 magnitude earthquake destroyed the city ― 35 years after the devastating earthquake (video, photos) https://www.ertnews.gr/roi-idiseon/kalamata-13-septemvrioy-1986-otan-ta-6-2-richter-dielysan-tin-poli-35-chronia-meta-apo-ton-katastrofiko-seismo-video-fotografies/ 1 October 2022 ERT News 13 September 2021 Greek Three individuals perished when the Holy Monastery of Velanidia's defensive towers collapsed.Η Ι.Μ. Βελανιδιάς επαναλειτουργεί μετά από 32 χρόνια https://www.messinia24.gr/%CE%B7-%CE%B9-%CE%BC-%CE%B2%CE%B5%CE%BB%CE%B1%CE%BD%CE%B9%CE%B4%CE%B9%CE%AC%CF%82-%CE%B5%CF%80%CE%B1%CE%BD%CE%B1%CE%BB%CE%B5%CE%B9%CF%84%CE%BF%CF%85%CF%81%CE%B3%CE%B5%CE%AF-%CE%BC%CE%B5%CF%84%CE%AC/ Messinia24 15 September 2026 13 April 2018 Four people died when an old stone building collapsed in Elaiochori. An additional 330 people were injured, including 83 with serious injuries. The earthquake caused 670 EUR million in damage.Monetary value in 1986I. Kassaras D. Kazantzidou-Firtinidou V. Kapetanidis A. Ganas V. Kapetanidis C. Tsimi S. Valkaniotis N. Sakellariou S. Mouloukos Seismic risk and loss assessment for Kalamata (SW Peloponnese, Greece) from neighbouring shallow sources Bollettino di Geofisica Teorica ed Applicata 2018 59 1 10.4430/bgta0222 https://bgo.ogs.it/sites/default/files/pdf/bgta0222_Kassaras.pdf The damage in Kalamata was concentrated in its city's historic central and northeast corners. There, most buildings were constructed with masonry and were about 150 to 200 years old.Report on the September 13, 1986 earthquake - Kalamata, Greece https://lfestorage.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/lfe/pdf/Greece_Kalamata_Insert_Oct86.pdf Earthquake Engineering Research Institute EERI Special Earthquake Report 1986 21 February 2025 According to Ta Nea, at least 112 buildings were partially or completely destroyed while about 70 percent of the city's buildings had severe cracks.Diamantis Y. T. Σεισμός Καλαμάτας: Το φονικό χτύπημα του εγκέλαδου το 1986 Kalamata Earthquake: The deadly blow of the Enceladus in 1986 el https://www.in.gr/2023/09/13/istoriko-arxeio/seismos-kalamatas-polynekro-xtypima-tou-egkeladou-1986/ 21 February 2025 In.gr 13 September 2023 Twenty percent of the city's buildings, including 44 reinforced concrete structures, were demolished due to the extent of damage.Πέθανε ξαφνικά η Μαρία Αθανασοπούλου: Το βρέφος 10 ημερών που σώθηκε στον μεγάλο σεισμό της Καλαμάτας το 1986 Maria Athanasopoulou died suddenly: The 10-day-old infant who was saved in the great Kalamata earthquake of 1986 el https://www.thetoc.gr/koinwnia/article/pethane-xafnika-i-maria-athanasopoulou-to-brefos-10-imeron-pou-sothike-ston-megalo-seismo-tis-kalamatas-to-1986/ 21 February 2025 The TOC 23 April 2024 At a jetty, cracks up to 10 cm wide were reported and parts of its walls partially detached. Communication services were disrupted and power outages occurred across the city. At Elaiochori, at least 70 percent of its buildings were destroyed, leaving only 120 intact.Nikolaos Theofanopoulos Kazuo Dan Simulation of the ground motion at Kalamata City – Greece Proceedings of Ninth World Conference on Earthquake Engineering 1988 2 https://www.iitk.ac.in/nicee/wcee/article/9_vol2_837.pdf Japan Heavy damage also occurred in the villages of Verga, Poliani, Aris, Artemisia and Nedousa. Other structures such as bridges and industrial facilities sustained little damage or were unaffected.S. A. Anagnostopolous D. Rinaldis V. A. Lekidis V. N. Margaris N. P. Theodulidis The Kalamata, Greece, Earthquake of September 13, 1986 Earthquake Spectra 1987 3 2 365–402 10.1193/1.1585434 1987EarSp...3..365A 128902740 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1193/1.1585434?journalCode=eqsa 3 July 2021 subscription Some rockfalls occurred in the Taygetus mountains, obstructing a major road that linked Kalamata to Sparta.Καλαμάτα 1986 (ΙΧ) https://oasp.gr/node/7016 Earthquake Planning and Protection Organization 11 August 2021 Greek Aftermath In Kalamata, recsuers immediately attended to a collapsed apartment and another two-storey house. Eleven people were rescued from the apartment. Members of the Greek Army, police and fire service also joined the rescue. These efforts were disrupted by onlookers, friends and family members of those trapped visiting the site.Diamantis Y. T. Σεισμός Καλαμάτας 1986: Ερείπια, τρόμος και θάνατος Kalamata Earthquake 1986: Ruins, terror and death https://www.in.gr/2022/09/13/plus/istoriko-arxeio/seismos-kalamatas-1986-ereipia-tromos-kai-thanatos/ 1 October 2022 In.gr 13 September 2022 el Rescue teams from France and Germany also assisted.Σεισμός: 13 Σεπτεμβρίου 1986 – Η ημέρα που ο Εγκέλαδος κατέστρεψε την Καλαμάτα Earthquake: September 13, 1986 – The day Enceladus destroyed Kalamata https://www.tanea.gr/2019/09/13/greece/seismos-13-septemvriou-1986-i-imera-pou-o-egkelados-katestrepse-tin-kalamata/ 1 October 2022 taNea 13 September 2019 el The earthquake led to the founding of Kalamata Radio Station, now known as ERT Kalamata, initiated by transport and communication minister, Stefanos Tzoumakas. The emergency radio station setup was in a field in Asprochoma on 17 September with three presenters. A backup radio transmitter from Hellenic Radio in Rhodes was used by the station. The ferry at the service line inauguration ceremony was converted into a temporary refuge center before containers and tents were available.13 Σεπτεμβρίου 1986 – Η ημέρα που ο εγκέλαδος ισοπέδωσε την Καλαμάτα (photos - video) http://notospress.gr/peloponnisos/story/95106/kalamata-13-septemvriou-otan-o-egkelados-isopedose-tin-kalamata 16 September 2026 Notospress 13 September 2023 el September 13, 1986 – The day Enceladus leveled Kalamata (photos - video) The displaced were housed in 30 accommodation centers. Some residents who had relatives elsewhere like Athens fled the city for an extended period. Reconstruction of the city continued for at least five years.Σεισμός Καλαμάτα: 33 χρόνια από το φονικό σεισμό του 1986 https://www.kalamatatimes.gr/seismos-kalamata-33-chronia-apo-to-foniko-seismo-toy-1986/ 5 October 2026 Kalamata Times 21 September 2019 gr Kalamata Earthquake: 33 years since the deadly 1986 earthquake Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou did not attend a memorial ceremony on the one-year anniversary of the earthquake, citing his busy schedule. Instead, he boarded a cruise with Dimitra Liani which sparked anger among the public. Kaplan Robert D. Balkan Ghosts, A Journey Through History 1994 Vintage Books London en 0679749810 https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/qRJqbvaC3x8C?hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjT7JGBsOSKAxWFGFkFHd8hMYsQ7_IDegQIDBAD 273-274 Top Greek tries an old trump: bases Chicago Tribune 16 November 1987 https://www.chicagotribune.com/1987/11/16/top-greek-tries-an-old-trump-bases See also List of earthquakes in 1986 List of earthquakes in Greece Notes References Sources H. Lyon-Caen R. Armijo J. Drakopoulos J. Baskoutass N. Delibassis R. Gaulon V. Kouskouna J. Latoussakis K. Makropoulos P. Papadimitriou D. Papanastassiou G. Pedotti The 1986 Kalamata (South Peloponnesus) Earthquake: Detailed study of a normal fault, evidences for east-west extension in the Hellenic Arc Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 1988 93 B12 14967–15000 10.1029/JB093iB12p14967 1988JGR....9314967L 129434743 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01994159/document 3 July 2021 Papazachos B. Kiratzi A. Karacostas B. Panagiotopoulos D. Scordilis E. Mountrakis D. M. Surface fault traces, fault plane solution and spatial distribution of the aftershocks of the September 13, 1986 earthquake of Kalamata (Southern Greece) Pure and Applied Geophysics 1988 126 1 55–68 10.1007/BF00876914 1988PApGe.126...55P 128953390 Further reading Application of the Environmental Seismic Intensity scale (ESI 2007) and the European Macroseismic Scale (EMS-98) to the Kalamata (SW Peloponnese, Greece) earthquake (Ms=6.2, September 13, 1986) and correlation with neotectonic structures and active faults Annals of Geophysics 56 6 2014 2037-416X 10.4401/ag-6237 Ioannis g. Fountoulis Spyridon D. Mavroulis 127327874 free Earth sciences Greece Category:1986 earthquakes Category:Earthquakes in Greece Category:1986 in Greece Category:Kalamata Category:History of Messenia Category:Geography of Messenia Category:1986 disasters in Greece Category:Andreas Papandreou