Reviewed by USGS89y ago
M6.0 earthquake in Ethiopia
Thursday, October 20, 1938, 13:14:59 UTC · 9.716°N, 39.988°E
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck in Ethiopia on Thursday, October 20, 1938, 13:14:59 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
- 6.0
- 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 100 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
17 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 36 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
30 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Somali and African 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 lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.0 on October 23, 1938. 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 6 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.58 km E of Goba, EthiopiaAugust 25, 1906 · 299 km S of this epicenter
- 6.347 km ESE of Kemisē, EthiopiaSeptember 27, 1938 · 91 km N of this epicenter
- 6.034 km SSE of Asaita, EthiopiaMay 18, 1929 · 245 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.0EthiopiaSeptember 18, 1938 · 65 km SE of this epicenter
- 5.737 km SSW of Dikhil, DjiboutiOctober 30, 1926 · 271 km NE of this epicenter
- 5.715 km SE of Deder, EthiopiaOctober 25, 1930 · 179 km E 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:
- 1842
Ankober
8 Dec 1842 · 24 km away · intensity IX
Severe damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.