In the night of Tuesday December 16th, 2025, a shallow and significant Magnitude 5.3 earthquake hit in the Ionian Sea 157 kilometer from Pátra, Greece. Another nearby country is Albania.
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Earthquake Summary
This earthquake hit under water in the Ionian Sea, 58 kilometers (36 mi) off the coast of Greece, 157 kilometer west-southwest of Pátra in West Greece. The center of this earthquake had a very shallow depth of 13 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.
| Date and Time: | Dec 16, 2025 01:41 (Athens Time) - Dec 15, 2025 23:41 Universal Time. |
|---|---|
| Location: | 157 km WSW of Pátra, West Greece, Greece. Coordinates 37°28'33"N 20°13'48"E. |
| Map: |  Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps. |
| Magnitude: | MAG 5.3 Detected by 24 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.063 . |
| Depth: | 13 km (8 mi) A very shallow depth. |
| Tsunami Risk: | Low tsunami risk Earthquakes under MAG-6.5 do not usually cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here. |
Nearby towns and cities
2 countries can be found within 300km of the epicenter of this earthquake: Greece and Albania .
Amaliáda in West Greece, Greece is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 105 kilometer (65 mi) west-southwest of Amaliáda.
The table below provides an overview of all places in proximity of today's earthquake.
Overview of nearby places
| Distance | Place |
|---|---|
| 105 km (65 mi) ENE from epicenter |
Amaliáda West Greece, Greece. |
| 109 km (68 mi) ENE from epicenter |
Pýrgos West Greece, Greece. |
| 157 km (98 mi) ENE from epicenter |
Pátra West Greece, Greece. |
| 164 km (102 mi) NE from epicenter |
Agrínio West Greece, Greece. |
| 171 km (106 mi) NNE from epicenter |
Préveza Epirus, Greece. |
| 174 km (108 mi) ESE from epicenter |
Kalamata Peloponnese, Greece. |
| 184 km (114 mi) ENE from epicenter |
Aígio West Greece, Greece. |
| 190 km (118 mi) E from epicenter |
Trípoli Peloponnese, Greece. |
| 199 km (124 mi) NNE from epicenter |
Árta Epirus, Greece. |
| 200 km (124 mi) ESE from epicenter |
Sparta Peloponnese, Greece. |
| 221 km (137 mi) E from epicenter |
Árgos Peloponnese, Greece. |
| 240 km (149 mi) N from epicenter |
Corfu Ionian Islands, Greece. |
| 245 km (152 mi) ENE from epicenter |
Kórinthos Peloponnese, Greece. |
| 249 km (155 mi) NE from epicenter |
Lamía Central Greece, Greece. |
| 249 km (155 mi) NNE from epicenter |
Ioánnina Epirus, Greece. |
| 255 km (158 mi) ENE from epicenter |
Livadeiá Central Greece, Greece. |
| 257 km (160 mi) NE from epicenter |
Kardítsa Thessaly, Greece. |
| 267 km (166 mi) NNE from epicenter |
Tríkala Thessaly, Greece. |
| 268 km (167 mi) N from epicenter |
Sarandë Vlorë, Albania. |
| 280 km (174 mi) ENE from epicenter |
Mégara Attica, Greece. |
| 287 km (178 mi) ENE from epicenter |
Thívai Central Greece, Greece. |
| 289 km (180 mi) N from epicenter |
Gjirokastër Gjirokastër, Albania. |
| 292 km (181 mi) E from epicenter |
Salamína Attica, Greece. |
| 298 km (185 mi) ENE from epicenter |
Elefsína Attica, Greece. |
| 299 km (186 mi) E from epicenter |
Pérama Attica, Greece. |
Shaking reported by 1 person
People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 1 person has reported shaking in one place in Greece.We keep updating this article as more ground reports become available. You may report that you felt this earthquake here.
Places with most reports:
- Messíni, Messinía, Greece: 1 person.
4 Aftershocks detected
Since this main shock, 4 smaller aftershocks were detected. Just 12 hrs after this main shock, an earthquake measuring MAG-3.6 was detected 9 km (5 mi) south of this earthquake.
Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks
| Classification | Magnitude | When | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main Shock This Earthquake |
M 5.3 |
Dec 16, 2025 01:41 (Athens Time) | - |
| Aftershock | M 3.3 |
9 mins later Dec 16, 2025 01:51 (Athens Time) | 1.6 km (1 mi) NNE from Main Shock. |
| Aftershock | M 3.2 |
1 hr later Dec 16, 2025 02:50 (Athens Time) | 13 km (8 mi) SSW from Main Shock. |
| Aftershock | M 2.9 |
2 hrs later Dec 16, 2025 03:38 (Athens Time) | 22 km (14 mi) SW from Main Shock. |
| Aftershock | M 3.6 |
12 hrs later Dec 16, 2025 13:56 (Athens Time) | 9 km (5 mi) S from Main Shock. |
More earthquakes coming?
The risk of aftershocks decreases rapidly over time. Usually, aftershocks are at least one order of magnitude lower than a main shock.
It's always adviced to be cautious of the risk of a larger shock following any significant earthquake, however this risk is fairly small. There is a roughly 94 percent change that no larger main shock will follow in the days following this earthquake.
Read: How to Stay Safe during an Earthquake (cdc.gov).Earthquakes like this happen often in the region
Earthquakes of this strength are very common in the region. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since March 29th, 2024, when a 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit 92 km (57 mi) further east. An even stronger magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck on October 25th, 2018.
In total, 17 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.3 or higher have been registered within 300km (186 mi) of this epicenter in the past 10 years. This comes down to an average of once every 7 months.
Low tsunami risk
Based on early data it appears this earthquake was not strong enough (lower than MAG-6.5) to be likely to cause destructive tsunami's. However this earthquake appeared to have hit at a shallow depth under sea, so stay cautious and monitor advice from local authorities.
Tsunami Risk Factors
| Factor | Under Sea? | MAG-6.5 or stronger? | Shallow depth? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Explanation | Almost all tsunami's are caused by earthquakes with their epicenter under sea or very near the sea. However stay cautious in coastal areas as earthquakes on land may cause landslides into sea, potentially still causing a local tsunami. | Under MAG 6.5: Very unlikely to cause a tsunami. MAG 6.5 to 7.5: Destructive tsunami's do occur, but are uncommon. Likely to observe small sea level changes. MAG 7.6+: Earthquakes with these magnitudes might produce destructive tsunami's. |
Most destructive tsunami's are caused by shallow earthquakes with a depth between 0 and 100km under the surface of the earth. Deeper tsunami's are unlikely to displace to ocean floor. |
| This Earthquake | This earthquake appears to have struck under the sea. | Not this earthquake. This earthquake had a magnitude of 5.3. Earthquakes of this strength are unlikely to trigger a tsunami. |
This earthquake occurred at a depth of of 13 km (8 mi). Earthquakes this shallow could trigger a tsunami. |
Sources
Last updated 16/12/25 16:58 (). This article is automatically generated based on available data. We keep checking multiple sources for additional information. This article gets updated as new details on this earthquake become available.
- US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us6000rv5e
- European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20251215_0000375
- Geonames.org: World Cities Database
- Google Maps: Static API
- Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database
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