Significant 5.0 quake hits near Ioannina, Epirus, Greece

The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) reported a magnitude 5.0 quake in Greece near Ioannina, Epirus, only 4 minutes ago. The earthquake hit in the morning on Friday, March 20th, 2026, at 11:05 am local time at a very shallow depth of 5. km. 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.
Our monitoring service identified a second report from the National Observatory of Athens (NOA) which listed the quake at magnitude 4.6. Other agencies reporting the same quake include the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) at magnitude 5.0, The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Geophysical Lab. (AUTH) at magnitude 4.4, The Seismological Laboratory of the University of Athens (UOA) at magnitude 4.5, and the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake at magnitude 5.0.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should have been widely felt by almost everyone in the area of the epicenter. It might have caused light to moderate damage.
Moderate shaking probably occurred in Paramythia (pop. 2,600) located 11 km from the epicenter.
In Eleousa (pop. 3,500) located 25 km from the epicenter, Anatoli (pop. 9,800) 25 km away, Ioannina (pop. 65,600) 26 km away, Katsikas (pop. 3,900) 27 km away, and Igoumenitsa (pop. 9,500) 28 km away, the quake should have been felt as light shaking.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Arta (pop. 21,900) located 55 km from the epicenter, and Preveza (pop. 17,300) 68 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.


Earthquake data:
Date & time: Mar 20, 2026 11:05 am (Athens time) local time (20 Mar 2026 09:05 GMT)
Magnitude: 5.0
Depth: 5.00 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 39.55°N / 20.59°E (Dimos Zitsa, Epirus, Greece)
Primary data source: EMSC
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