Reviewed by USGSMyanmar70y ago
M6.1 earthquake 227 km S of Pyapon, Myanmar
Tuesday, June 18, 1957, 02:12:21 UTC · 14.226°N, 95.657°E
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck 227 km S of Pyapon, Myanmar on Tuesday, June 18, 1957, 02:12:21 UTC, at a depth of 45.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.1 on April 11, 1935.
- Magnitude
- 6.1
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 45 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
19 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 39 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
54 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Sunda and Burma plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
45 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 M6.3 on June 18, 1957. 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 7 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.4Andaman Islands, India regionOctober 17, 1922 · 226 km S of this epicenter
- 6.1290 km WSW of Dawei, MyanmarApril 11, 1935 · 114 km S of this epicenter
- 5.8247 km E of Port Blair, IndiaJune 14, 1949 · 291 km S of this epicenter
- 5.8282 km N of Bamboo Flat, IndiaJune 10, 1906 · 277 km W of this epicenter
- 5.7286 km ENE of Port Blair, IndiaFebruary 13, 1931 · 163 km SW of this epicenter
- 5.6Andaman Islands, India regionApril 30, 1929 · 167 km S of this epicenter
- 5.6170 km SSW of Pathein, MyanmarDecember 6, 1943 · 220 km NW 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:
- 1895
Rangoon
1895 · 292 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.