Earthquake in Montenegro in 1979

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Earthquake in Montenegro in 1979
Earthquake in Montenegro 1979 (Montenegro)
Bullseye1.svg
Coordinates 41 ° 58 '48 "  N , 18 ° 58' 48"  E Coordinates: 41 ° 58 '48 "  N , 18 ° 58' 48"  E
date April 15, 1979
Time 7:20 a.m. ( CET )
intensity IX  on the MM scale
Magnitude 7.1  M W
depth 12 km
epicenter the Adrian Sea
(15 km southwest of Bar )
country Yugoslavia Socialist Federal RepublicYugoslavia SFR Yugoslavia Albania
AlbaniaAlbania 
Affected places

Montenegro

Albania

Tsunami Yes
dead 135
Injured > 1000

The earthquake on the Montenegrin coast in 1979 ( M w = 7.1) took place at 7:20 a.m. on Easter Sunday , April 15, 1979 with an epicenter 15 kilometers from the coast near Bar in the Adriatic Sea . The rupture occurred in a shallow zone, about twelve kilometers deep, on the gently sinking frontal thrust of the Adriatic under the Eurasian plate , concordant to the NW-SE strike of the Dinarides . In Bar, the quake had a maximum intensity of IX on the Mercalli scale .

Effects

Damage to the Hotel Slavija in Budva

The earthquake had an inland effect down to a depth of 25 kilometers on 6000 km² between Dubrovnik and northern Albania . About 135 people died, over 1,000 were injured, and tens of thousands were left homeless. The quake destroyed hotels, hospitals, historical buildings (especially the old town of Kotor , Budva and Ulcinj ), residential buildings and the transport infrastructure. Two thirds of the population of the coastal region are said to have lost their homes.

The quake led to cracks in the ground up to several tens of meters in length, geysers , and predominant phenomena of soil liquefaction , lateral expansion , collapse , formation of sand volcanoes , silting up of wells, collapse of river terraces, folding of the soil, etc. An earthquake-generated tsunami with wave heights of 0.5 to one meter was observed at Ulcinj. At the Buna the water level rose by six centimeters. At Budva the sea retreated 45 meters over several hours. Anomalous tidal waves and turbulence occurred in the Bay of Kotor and in Bari .

Tectonic framework

The earthquake took place in one of the most active earthquake zones in Europe, the transition zone between Dinarides and Hellenids on the Albanian-Montenegrin border. Moderate, shallow earthquakes (M w <5.0) and occasionally those of great severity and destructiveness (M w ≤ 7.1) occur regularly at this interface . The seismicity observed results from the complex tectonic framework conditions of the western Balkan peninsula, which is particularly linked to the continental subduction of the Adriatic microplate under Eurasia. A major earthquake hit the coastal region in 1968.

Increased seismic activity was noted prior to the main quake. The first quakes were registered at the beginning of April. And on April 9, an earthquake with M w = 5.4 shook the region, which, for example, already caused severe damage in Ulcinj.

A strong aftershock (M w = 6.2) with an epicenter off the Bay of Kotor took place on May 24, 1979 at the same rupture.

Seismicity

The so-called active Montenegrin fault (AF20B) is the most active fault of the outer Dinarides with average long-term relative movement rates of 2.01 mm / a . The earthquake of April 15, 1979 with M w 7.1 is also the strongest instrumentally measured earthquake that was measured between Friuli and Albania. The upper end of the fault is five to 20 kilometers off the Montenegrin coast. Since it is a gently sloping structure, it has a high hazard potential with strong earthquakes and a potential source for tsunamis. The 1979 earthquake caused significant damage in both Montenegro and Albania. It had maximum acceleration rates of 0.49 g, and tsunami waves were recorded at the gauge stations in Montenegro and southern Croatia. The maximum tsunami waves hit the central and southern Montenegrin coast at 0.5 meters.

Damage, aid and reconstruction

SFR Yugoslavia

The quake was the strongest in the history of Yugoslavia. Although its catastrophic effects were limited to the Montenegrin coast and the border region of Albania, shocks were felt in Belgrade, 350 kilometers away, and even in Zagreb, 700 kilometers away . The then Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito stayed in his villa in Igalo at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor during the quake . This immediately ordered the state organs to take relief measures. Military and civil defense units came to the affected region. The first supply of the region could be ensured via the airport Dubrovnik / Cilipi . Tito himself inspected the devastation in the places. The cities of Herceg Novi , Kotor, Budva, Sutomore , Ulcinj and Bar were hardest hit.

The Yugoslav television interrupted the regular program to report the damage. It showed imagery of torn open streets, cars wedged together, and huge boulders that had torn shop windows. One sailor reported unusually high waves and boulders that had fallen from the cliffs into the sea. 20 ships in the port of Bar had sunk. Tito asked the people and republics of Yugoslavia to actively support the reconstruction of Montenegro. The fact that Tito was there had a major impact on the sympathy expressed by all republics of SR Montenegro and the willingly given support.

101 people in Yugoslavia had lost their lives. The UNESCO reported in 1984 that nearly 1,600 cultural monuments were destroyed or damaged. 30% of them were demolished. Also in the towns of Cetinje , Grahovo and Nikšić, 15 kilometers inland . In Grahovo, most of the old buildings that were damaged in 1979 have not been renovated to this day. The total damage from the earthquake was estimated at seven billion DM . The economy of Monentegro, especially tourism , ports and shipyards, were severely affected.

For reconstruction, the federal government demanded a levy that all workers in Yugoslavia had to pay at 2.5% of their gross wages for ten years. Payments, especially from Serbia , came regularly for the entire decade; other republics gradually stopped making payments. The badly damaged old town of Kotor was designated a World Heritage Site in Danger by UNESCO in 1979 . Specialists from Japan in particular also helped with the reconstruction . The new buildings on the coast should be earthquake-proof in the future . The first new hotels were planned afterwards, but when the earthquake was forgotten and fueled by the real estate boom in the coastal towns of Montenegro, high solitaires were soon built, especially around Budva, without adequate earthquake security, which, as they are often unstable on slopes Grounds were built pose additional risks.

Albania

In Albania, the northern Albanian coastal region with the Shkodra and Lezha regions was particularly affected. 35 people were killed, 382 injured and tens of thousands are said to have lost their homes. The authorities spoke of 17,000 houses destroyed. Several cultural monuments were also damaged.

In contrast to Yugoslavia, the Socialist People's Republic of Albania refused any foreign aid. The communist government in Tirana announced that it wanted to build new shelters for the homeless by winter. Visitors were then regularly shown the suburb of Bahçallëk south of Shkodra , which was completely destroyed and where 54 new houses with 164 apartments had been built. 25,000 volunteers from all over Albania had worked for six months to support the reconstruction. In Bahçallëk, Enver Hoxha announced the completion of the construction work on October 1, 1979.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Earthquake: Montenegro (April 15, 1979). In: European Strong-Motion Data. June 15, 2000, accessed October 13, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Yugoslavia: Flat as biscuits . In: Spiegel Online . tape 17 , April 23, 1979, pp. 136 ff . ( spiegel.de [accessed on October 13, 2019]).
  3. ^ A b Peter Biermanns, Benjamin Schmitz, Kamil Ustaszewski, Klaus Reicherter: Tectonic geomorphology and Quaternary landscape development in the Albania - Montenegro border region: An inventory . In: Geomorphology . Volume 326, No. 1 , February 2019, p. 116-131 .
  4. ↑ Earthquake: Montenegro (April 9, 1979). In: European Strong-Motion Data. June 15, 2000, accessed October 13, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Christoforos Benetatos, Anastasia A. Kiratzi 2006: Finite-fault slip models for the 15 April 1979 (MW 7.1) Montenegro earthquake and its strongest aftershock of 24 May 1979 (MW 6.2) July 2006 Tectonophysics 421 (1): 129-143 DOI : 10.1016 / j.tecto.2006.04.009
  6. ↑ Vanja Kastelić, Michele MC Carafa: Fault slip rates for the active External Dinarides thrust ‐ and ‐ fold belt . In: Tectonics . Volume 31, Issue 3, June 28, 2012 ( wiley.com [accessed October 13, 2019]).
  7. ↑ a b c d David A. Andelman: Hundreds Are Killed in Yugoslavia's Strongest. Quake . In: New York Times . April 16, 1979 (English, nytimes.com [accessed October 13, 2019]).
  8. ↑ a b c d Savo Gregović, Veliša Kadić: 40 godina od razornog zemljotresa - Dan kada je menjana karta Crne Gore . In: Novosti . April 15, 2019 ( novosti.rs [accessed October 13, 2019]).
  9. ↑ UNESCO (ed.): Montenegro Earthquake: The Conservation of the Historic Monuments and Art Treasures . Paris 1984, p. 5 ( unesco.org [PDF; accessed October 13, 2019]).
  10. ^ A b Owen Pearson: Albania in the Twentieth Century, A History: Volume III: Albania as Dictatorship and Democracy, 1945-1999 (=  Albania in the Twentieth Century: A History . Volume 3 ). IBTauris, London 2006, ISBN 1-84511-105-2 , April 15th, 1979, pp. 637 f . (English).
  11. ↑ Bodo Gudjons: The new Bahçallëk - symbol of social solidarity . In: Rüdiger Pier, Dierk Stich (ed.): Albania . VSA, Hamburg 1989, ISBN 3-87975-467-5 , p. 179 f .
  12. ↑ Cay Lienau , Günter Prinzing : Report on an excursion to Albania from 19.09. - 29.09.1982 . In: Cay Lienau, Günter Prinzing (Ed.): Albania - Contributions to geography and history . Publishing house Dr. Cay Lienau, Münster 1986, ISBN 3-9801245-0-9 , p. 20th f .