QuakeScout
Magnitude6.8

Reviewed by USGSMicronesia115y ago

M6.8 earthquake 281 km S of Colonia, Micronesia

Thursday, October 31, 1912, 17:23:41 UTC · 7.012°N, 137.641°E

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck 281 km S of Colonia, Micronesia on Thursday, October 31, 1912, 17:23:41 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.6 on September 29, 1912.

Magnitude
6.8
Strong · mw
Depth
15 km
Shallow
Felt reports
0
Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking
—
No ShakeMap
PAGER alert
None
Not issued
Tsunami
No flag
USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquake

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

265 kilotons of TNT

That is about 18 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 556 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

86 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Philippine Sea and Caroline plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: shallow

15 km

Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.

Did You Feel It?

Where it was felt

No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.

I felt it — report to USGS ↗

USGS PAGER estimate

Who was exposed to shaking

USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.

After the main event

Aftershocks within 100 km

USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 2 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.8State of Yap, Federated States of MicronesiaAugust 16, 1911 · 74 km NW of this epicenter
  2. 7.6245 km E of Melekeok Village, PalauSeptember 29, 1912 · 92 km W of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 3 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

  1. 1911M7.7

    Caroline Islands

    16 Aug 1911 · 71 km away

  2. 1912M7.5

    Caroline Islands

    29 Sep 1912 · 40 km away

  3. 1912M6.9

    Caroline Islands

    31 Oct 1912 · 40 km away · intensity III

    tsunami

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers

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