Earthquakes are widespread in the Europe. The most destructive events occurred in the Mediterranean countries, particularly Greece, Italy and Turkey, which are in the collision zone between the Eurasian and African crustal plates. Albania and Romania have experienced major earthquakes. Smaller earthquakes are felt by other nations, although there is generally little damage.
In the last 15 years, thousands people have died in earthquakes. In 1980, a terrible earthquake struck southern Italy, killing 4,580 people and leaving 250,000 homeless.
More recently, in 1995, tremors shook the Greek region of Grevena and, in 1997, an earthquake in Assisi caused extensive damage and human suffering. In 1999 the Istanbul earthquake killed 17,118 people, injured 50,000 and left 500,000 homeless.