M1.8 earthquake 9 km NW of Zafferana Etnea, Sicily, Italy
A magnitude 1.8 earthquake struck 9 km NW of Zafferana Etnea, Sicily, Italy at 08:51 local time (06:51 UTC) on 21 Oct 2026, at a depth of 4 km, according to INGV. The solution is preliminary and may be revised.
Data: INGV · updated 2026-10-21 06:51 UTC · automatic solution
- Magnitude
- 1.8micro
local magnitude (Richter) (ML) - Depth
- 4.4 km
- Status
- Automatic
- Origin time
- 2026-10-21 06:51:04 UTC
- Local: 21 Oct 2026, 08:51:04 (Europe/Rome)
- Epicentre
- 37.740° N, 15.033° E
Agencies reported this earthquake under two records that have not been merged yet. The main page is M1.8 earthquake 9 km NW of Zafferana Etnea, Sicily, Italy.
Circles show this event and others within 30 km from 7 days before to 30 days after. Lines: plate boundaries and GEM active faults. Open on the live map
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Est. shaking |
|---|---|---|
| Zafferana EtneaSicily, Italy · pop. 9,214 | 9 km | INot felt |
| GiarreSicily, Italy · pop. 24,138 | 13 km | INot felt |
| Aci CatenaSicily, Italy · pop. 24,663 | 17 km | INot felt |
| BiancavillaSicily, Italy · pop. 23,188 | 18 km | INot felt |
| San Giovanni la PuntaSicily, Italy · pop. 22,046 | 18 km | INot felt |
| CataniaSicily, Italy · pop. 311,584 | 28 km | INot felt |
| PalermoSicily, Italy · pop. 648,260 | 153 km | INot felt |
| NaplesCampania, Italy · pop. 909,048 | 352 km | INot felt |
Shaking is an estimate from the intensity prediction equation of Allen, Wald & Worden (2012), not an observation. Local ground and buildings can change it by a level or more. Likely felt out to about 2 km.
Every agency's solution
Agencies locate earthquakes with their own stations and methods, so their numbers differ. We match reports of the same event by time, distance and magnitude and show them side by side. The headline uses INGV.
| Agency | Magnitude | Depth | Epicentre | Time offset | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INGVheadlineSURVEY-INGV-CT#KATALOC via Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia | 1.8 ML | 4.4 km | 37.74° N, 15.03° E | – | Automatic |
How big was it?
Usually not felt. Recorded by nearby seismometers; thousands occur worldwide every day.
It released roughly the energy of 8 kg of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step means about 32 times more energy and 10 times larger waves on a seismogram. Depth matters too: at 4 km this was a shallow earthquake, which is felt more strongly at the surface than a deeper one of the same size.
M1.8 releases about 16× the energy of M1.0, and its waves are about 6.3× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 8 kg of TNT vs 477 g of TNT.
Each square is the energy of one M1.0. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.
Aftershocks and nearby activity
14 later earthquakes within 30 km; the largest was M2.0 16 days ago. 10 in the 7 days before. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.
Mainshock M1.8
14 later earthquakes nearby. Aftershock rates typically fall off roughly as 1/time (Omori's law).
| Time after mainshock (hours) | Magnitude | Depth (km) |
|---|---|---|
| 0.03 | 1.5 | 5 |
| 3.26 | 1.9 | 0 |
| 3.26 | 1.9 | 0 |
| 36.74 | 1.5 | 8 |
| 137.24 | 2.0 | 0 |
| 137.24 | 2.0 | 0 |
| 146.11 | 1.6 | 0 |
| 263.35 | 1.7 | 23 |
| 275.85 | 2.0 | 10 |
| 275.85 | 2.0 | 10 |
| 277.16 | 1.7 | 1 |
| 351.83 | 1.9 | 14 |
| 351.83 | 1.9 | 14 |
| 427.05 | 1.5 | 2 |
- 2.0Near Zafferana Etnea, Sicily, Italy10-27 00:05
- 2.0Near Zafferana Etnea, Sicily, Italy10-27 00:05
- 2.05 km ENE of Bronte, Sicily, Italy11-01 18:42
- 2.05 km ENE of Bronte, Sicily, Italy11-01 18:42
- 1.9Near Zafferana Etnea, Sicily, Italy10-21 10:06
- 1.9Near Zafferana Etnea, Sicily, Italy10-21 10:06
- 1.9Near Bronte, Sicily, Italy11-04 22:40
- 1.9Near Bronte, Sicily, Italy11-04 22:40
- 1.710 km NW of Linguaglossa, Sicily, Italy11-01 06:11
- 1.713 km NW of Zafferana Etnea, Sicily, Italy11-01 20:00
- 1.612 km NW of Zafferana Etnea, Sicily, Italy10-27 08:57
- 1.59 km NW of Zafferana Etnea, Sicily, Italy10-21 06:53
- 1.59 km W of Paternò, Sicily, Italy10-22 19:35
- 1.510 km NW of Zafferana Etnea, Sicily, Italy11-08 01:54
Did you feel it?
Reports from people help show where shaking was strong. They are anonymous and shown here in aggregate.
Reports close 14 days after an earthquake.
Reports on SeismoAtlas
No reports yet.
Event id ingv47590562. First recorded here 21 Oct 2026, 07:30:11 UTC. Solutions: INGV (ingv:47590562). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M1.8 earthquake 9 km NW of Zafferana Etnea, Sicily, Italy”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/ingv47590562-m1-8-earthquake-9-km-nw-of-zafferana-etnea-sicily-italy, data from INGV.
JSON: /api/v1/events/ingv47590562. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.