Strong mag. 5.3 earthquake - Eastern Mediterranean, 98 km south of Żurrieq, Malta, on Monday, Jan 30, 2023 at 8:55 pm (GMT +1) -

An earthquake of magnitude 5.3 occurred only 29 minutes ago 98 km south of Żurrieq, Malta, the United States Geological Survey reported.
The quake hit at a shallow depth of 10 km beneath the epicenter near Żurrieq, Iż-Żurrieq, Malta, in the evening on Monday, January 30th, 2023, at 8:55 pm local time. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
A second report was later issued by The Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS), which listed it as a magnitude 5.3 earthquake as well. Other agencies reporting the same quake include the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) at magnitude 5.1, Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) at magnitude 5.6, the National Observatory of Athens (NOA) at magnitude 5.2, the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake at magnitude 5.3, and the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) at magnitude 5.2.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Żurrieq (pop. 9,100) located 98 km from the epicenter, Mqabba (pop. 2,900) 99 km away, Qormi (pop. 18,200) 102 km away, Paula (pop. 9,300) 102 km away, Mdina (pop. 360) 103 km away, Imtarfa (pop. 2,400) 104 km away, Senglea (pop. 3,000) 104 km away, Birkirkara (pop. 21,700) 105 km away, Birgu (pop. 2,900) 105 km away, Floriana (pop. 2,500) 105 km away, Ta'Xbiex (pop. 1,600) 105 km away, Valleta (pop. 6,800) 106 km away, and Għajnsielem (pop. 3,300) 118 km away.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you're in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.

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Based on its magnitude, the fault that was active during the quake ruptured along a surface of approx. 20 km² (=8 sqare miles) as a first-order estimate. The length of the rupture zone thus was probably around 8 km (5 mi).
Aftershocks typically occur during the days and weeks following the quake at or near the same fault, at distances of up to approx. two times the length of the rupture zone.
The often broadly linear arrangement of aftershock epicenters encompasses the rupture zone of the main shock (check on the map below to verify).

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