The Estonian Geological Survey (Eesti geoloogiateenistus) said the quake was recorded at 7:42 p.m. on Sunday, September 20, near the villages of Änglema and Alliklepa in Harju County, around 70 kilometers from Tallinn.

The quake's epicenter was located at a depth of about eight kilometers.

In early August, a magnitude 0.5 earthquake occurred near the island of Naissaar, in Tallinn Bay; usually only about one earthquake is detected in Estonia every two years on average.

Northwestern Estonia, together with the surrounding sea area, is broadly considered the country's most seismically active region.

In June 2022, two earthquakes with magnitudes of 2.3 and 1.4 were recorded about five kilometers from the epicenter of the latest incident.

Estonia's strongest known earthquake occurred near Osmussaar, an island of the northwest coast, in 1976, with a magnitude of 4.5 on the Richter scale.

Despite being a long way from any of the world's major geological fault lines, earth tremors occur in Estonia due to the crystalline basement being crossed by numerous ancient faults.

When stresses accumulated underground exceed the strength of the rocks, these zones of weakness can shift slightly and trigger an earthquake.

On the whole however earthquakes are generally modest in Estonia compared with those seen in more tectonically active places; the magnitude 1.4 Änglema quake is fairly typical by Estonian standards, Maaleht reported.

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