QuakeScout
Magnitude6.2

Reviewed by USGS59y ago

M6.2 earthquake south of Africa

Saturday, June 8, 1968, 23:24:04 UTC · 48.885°S, 31.228°E

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck south of Africa on Saturday, June 8, 1968, 23:24:04 UTC, at a depth of 19.3 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M8.0 on November 10, 1942.

Magnitude
6.2
Strong · mw
Depth
19 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

30 kilotons of TNT

That is about 2 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 63 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

29 km

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

Depth: shallow

19 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 4 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.01942 Southwest Indian Ridge EarthquakeNovember 10, 1942 · 124 km SW of this epicenter
  2. 6.1south of AfricaAugust 22, 1933 · 135 km SW of this epicenter
  3. 6.1south of AfricaFebruary 29, 1924 · 109 km S of this epicenter
  4. 6.1Prince Edward Islands regionMay 9, 1926 · 269 km NE of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 1 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

  1. 1942M7.9

    Prince Edward Island

    10 Nov 1942 · 88 km away

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

Nearby trackers

Closest city pages