Reviewed by USGSDjibouti82y ago
M6.0 earthquake 39 km SSE of Holhol, Djibouti
Sunday, October 28, 1945, 00:17:13 UTC · 10.995°N, 43.096°E
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck 39 km SSE of Holhol, Djibouti on Sunday, October 28, 1945, 00:17:13 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.0 on May 18, 1929.
- Magnitude
- 6.0
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 15 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
16 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 33 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
92 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 10 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.0northwestern SomaliaJanuary 22, 1929 · 65 km S of this epicenter
- 6.054 km NNW of Baki, SomaliaOctober 31, 1926 · 72 km S of this epicenter
- 6.034 km SSE of Asaita, EthiopiaMay 18, 1929 · 170 km W of this epicenter
- 6.063 km WNW of Baki, SomaliaOctober 24, 1930 · 94 km S of this epicenter
- 6.080 km N of Baki, SomaliaOctober 27, 1930 · 58 km SE of this epicenter
- 5.766 km SE of 'Ali Sabieh, DjiboutiOctober 25, 1930 · 30 km S of this epicenter
- 5.737 km SSW of Dikhil, DjiboutiOctober 30, 1926 · 99 km W of this epicenter
- 5.715 km SE of Deder, EthiopiaOctober 25, 1930 · 261 km SW 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:
- 1909
Djibouti; Yemen
19 Feb 1909 · 102 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.