M4.3 earthquake 46 km WSW of Balangonan, Philippines

Saturday, April 29, 2017, 17:47:41 UTC · 5.382°N, 124.980°E

A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck 46 km WSW of Balangonan, Philippines on Saturday, April 29, 2017, 17:47:41 UTC, at a depth of 61.5 km (shallow).

Magnitude: 4.3; Light · mb
Depth: 61 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: 50 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

43 tons of TNT

That is about 1/354 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 11 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

277 km

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

Depth: shallow

61 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 50 km

USGS lists 6 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.7 on April 29, 2017. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 1,539 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 38 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 11,120 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1976M8.0
Mindanao: S
16 Aug 1976 · 141 km away · intensity VI
8,000 deaths$134 million damagetsunami
1856
Sangihe Pulau (Volcanic)
2 Mar 1856 · 199 km away
2,806 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1913M7.8
Sangihe Island
14 Mar 1913 · 126 km away · intensity IX
138 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1928M7.4
Cotabato,N Coast Of Illana Bay
19 Dec 1928 · 168 km away · intensity VII
97 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1918M8.3
Mindanao: Cotabato
15 Aug 1918 · 111 km away · intensity X
52 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
2002M7.5
Mindanao
5 Mar 2002 · 109 km away
15 deaths$2 million damagetsunami

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

Nearby trackers