QuakeScout
Magnitude6.1

Reviewed by USGSEthiopia85y ago

M6.1 earthquake 82 km ENE of Debre Werk’, Ethiopia

Wednesday, November 18, 1942, 12:01:18 UTC · 11.056°N, 38.814°E

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck 82 km ENE of Debre Werk’, Ethiopia on Wednesday, November 18, 1942, 12:01:18 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.3 on September 27, 1938.

Magnitude
6.1
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

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

225 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Somali and African plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.

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 4 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 6.347 km ESE of Kemisē, EthiopiaSeptember 27, 1938 · 168 km E of this epicenter
  2. 6.035 km SW of Gewanē, EthiopiaOctober 23, 1938 · 215 km SE of this epicenter
  3. 6.0EthiopiaOctober 20, 1938 · 197 km SE of this epicenter
  4. 6.0EthiopiaSeptember 18, 1938 · 262 km SE 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. The most severe:

  1. 1842

    Ankober

    8 Dec 1842 · 195 km away · intensity IX

    Severe damage ($5–24M)

  2. 1845

    Ethiopia

    12 Feb 1845 · 140 km away

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers

Closest city pages