Strong mag. 5.3 earthquake - Eastern Mediterranean, 112 km south of Birkirkara, Malta, on Tuesday, Jan 24, 2023 at 9:25 pm (GMT +1) -

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake near Qormi, Malta, was reported only 19 minutes ago by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), considered one of the key international agencies that monitor seismic activity worldwide. The earthquake occurred at a shallow depth of 10 km beneath the epicenter in the evening on Tuesday, January 24th, 2023, at 9:25 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 citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake, which listed it as a magnitude 4.8 earthquake as well. Other agencies reporting the same quake include the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) at magnitude 4.9, and the National Observatory of Athens (NOA) at magnitude 5.0.
Towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Birzebbuga (pop. 8,700) located 113 km from the epicenter, Mqabba (pop. 2,900) 115 km away, Paula (pop. 9,300) 118 km away, Qormi (pop. 18,200) 118 km away, Mdina (pop. 360) 119 km away, Imtarfa (pop. 2,400) 119 km away, and Senglea (pop. 3,000) 119 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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