Reviewed by USGSDjibouti66y ago
M6.2 earthquake 10 km WNW of Djibouti, Djibouti
Saturday, March 11, 1961, 08:41:08 UTC · 11.640°N, 43.065°E
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck 10 km WNW of Djibouti, Djibouti on Saturday, March 11, 1961, 08:41:08 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 6.2
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 15 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- VIII
- Severe (ShakeMap)
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquakeColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
29 kilotons of TNT
That is about 2 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 61 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
23 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Somali and Arabian 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 15 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.126 km NNW of 'Ali Sabieh, DjiboutiJanuary 4, 1960 · 58 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.0northwestern SomaliaJanuary 22, 1929 · 137 km S of this epicenter
- 6.039 km SSE of Holhol, DjiboutiOctober 28, 1945 · 72 km S of this epicenter
- 6.054 km NNW of Baki, SomaliaOctober 31, 1926 · 144 km S of this epicenter
- 6.034 km SSE of Asaita, EthiopiaMay 18, 1929 · 168 km W of this epicenter
- 6.063 km WNW of Baki, SomaliaOctober 24, 1930 · 164 km S of this epicenter
- 6.080 km N of Baki, SomaliaOctober 27, 1930 · 122 km S of this epicenter
- 5.8135 km SSE of Aden, YemenJuly 3, 1951 · 270 km E of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 2 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 106 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1861
Dubbi
7 May 1861 · 286 km away
106 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1909
Djibouti; Yemen
19 Feb 1909 · 62 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.