Reviewed by USGSIraq121y ago
M5.4 earthquake 34 km ENE of Al-Hamdaniya, Iraq
Sunday, March 31, 1907, 14:14:47 UTC · 36.433°N, 43.710°E
A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck 34 km ENE of Al-Hamdaniya, Iraq on Sunday, March 31, 1907, 14:14:47 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 5.4
- Moderate · 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
2 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/8 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 4 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
59 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Eurasian 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 75 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists no earlier M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km.
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 17 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 128,975 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1727
Tabriz
18 Nov 1727 · 288 km away · intensity VIII
77,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1780M7.7
Tabriz
8 Jan 1780 · 281 km away · intensity IX
50,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1843
Khvoy (Khoy)
18 Apr 1843 · 263 km away · intensity VII
1,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1896
Khvoy (Khoy)
5 Jan 1896 · 256 km away
800 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1881
Van,Nemrut
7 Jun 1881 · 233 km away · intensity VII
95 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1781
Al-Mawsil (Mosul)
1781 · 57 km away · intensity X
80 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.