Reviewed by USGS61y ago
M6.1 earthquake in Easter Island region
Wednesday, November 3, 1965, 18:21:07 UTC · 22.474°S, 113.890°W
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck in Easter Island region on Wednesday, November 3, 1965, 18:21:07 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.3 on July 23, 1956.
- Magnitude
- 6.1
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 10 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
21 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 45 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
41 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Easter and Nazca plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
10 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 M5.9 on November 6, 1965. 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 9 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.5Easter Island regionNovember 2, 1932 · 175 km E of this epicenter
- 6.3southern East Pacific RiseApril 8, 1954 · 153 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.3Easter Island regionJuly 23, 1956 · 242 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.2southern East Pacific RiseFebruary 20, 1951 · 130 km N of this epicenter
- 6.2Easter Island regionApril 23, 1955 · 269 km S of this epicenter
- 6.1Easter Island regionJuly 18, 1952 · 101 km SW of this epicenter
- 5.9Easter Island regionJune 10, 1961 · 281 km SE of this epicenter
- 5.7Easter Island regionMay 20, 1959 · 68 km S of this epicenter