Reviewed by USGSMyanmar97y ago
M7.5 earthquake 36 km SSW of Pyu, Myanmar
Wednesday, December 3, 1930, 18:51:47 UTC · 18.170°N, 96.336°E
A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck 36 km SSW of Pyu, Myanmar on Wednesday, December 3, 1930, 18:51:47 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 7.5
- Major · mw
- Depth
- 10 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
2.9 megatons of TNT
That is about 191 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 6,026 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
7 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Indian and Eurasian plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
10 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 200 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 200 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:
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 5 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 586 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1930M7.4
Pegu, Rangoon
5 May 1930 · 49 km away · intensity IX
500 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1930
Tharrawaddy
18 Jul 1930 · 123 km away
50 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1930M7.3
Pyu
3 Dec 1930 · 8 km away
36 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1858
Thayetmyo, Prome
24 Aug 1858 · 168 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1895
Rangoon
1895 · 153 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.