Reviewed by USGS59y ago
M6.7 earthquake in South Sandwich Islands region
Tuesday, August 22, 1967, 13:02:06 UTC · 60.808°S, 24.342°W
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck in South Sandwich Islands region on Tuesday, August 22, 1967, 13:02:06 UTC, at a depth of 17.5 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.8 on September 14, 1966.
- Magnitude
- 6.7
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 18 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 100 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
175 kilotons of TNT
That is about 12 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 367 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
16 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Antarctic and South American plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
18 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 lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.7 on August 22, 1967. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 49 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.5South Sandwich Islands regionAugust 28, 1933 · 162 km W of this epicenter
- 7.3South Sandwich Islands regionSeptember 1, 1961 · 218 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.2South Sandwich Islands regionNovember 15, 1910 · 190 km N of this epicenter
- 7.0South Sandwich Islands regionDecember 14, 1959 · 144 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.0South Sandwich Islands regionMarch 9, 1943 · 229 km W of this epicenter
- 7.0South Sandwich Islands regionMarch 21, 1926 · 32 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.8South Sandwich Islands regionSeptember 14, 1966 · 172 km W of this epicenter
- 6.7South Sandwich Islands regionJanuary 14, 1936 · 118 km E 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:
- 1961M7.5
South Sandwich Islands
1 Sep 1961 · 219 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.