QuakeScout
Magnitude4.2

Reviewed by USGS4y ago

M4.2 earthquake in South Sandwich Islands region

Monday, October 10, 2022, 13:56:13 UTC · 59.835°S, 26.341°W

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck in South Sandwich Islands region on Monday, October 10, 2022, 13:56:13 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow).

Magnitude
4.2
Light · mb
Depth
35 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

30 tons of TNT

That is about 1/500 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 16 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

52 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Australian and Antarctic plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: shallow

35 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 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.2 on October 27, 2022. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M4M51h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M4.2
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 4.4South Sandwich Islands region3y ago · 48 km E of this epicenter
  2. 5.2South Sandwich Islands region3y ago · 29 km N of this epicenter
  3. 4.9South Sandwich Islands region4y ago · 45 km NE of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 1,102 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.12021 South Sandwich Islands EarthquakeAugust 12, 2021 · 174 km N of this epicenter
  2. 7.5South Sandwich Islands regionAugust 12, 2021 · 263 km N of this epicenter
  3. 7.5South Sandwich Islands regionAugust 28, 1933 · 62 km SW of this epicenter
  4. 7.4east of the South Sandwich IslandsJanuary 2, 2006 · 288 km SE of this epicenter
  5. 7.3South Sandwich Islands regionSeptember 1, 1961 · 68 km NW of this epicenter
  6. 7.3South Sandwich Islands regionJuly 15, 2013 · 133 km SE of this epicenter
  7. 7.2South Sandwich Islands regionNovember 15, 1910 · 158 km NE of this epicenter
  8. 7.2South Sandwich Islands regionOctober 22, 1983 · 105 km SE of this epicenter

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. The most severe:

  1. 2021M8.1

    South Sandwich Islands

    12 Aug 2021 · 168 km away

    tsunami

  2. 1961M7.7

    South Sandwich Islands

    5 Sep 1961 · 207 km away

  3. 1961M7.5

    South Sandwich Islands

    1 Sep 1961 · 65 km away

  4. 1973M7.5

    Antarctica

    6 Oct 1973 · 285 km away

  5. 2021M7.5

    South Sandwich Islands

    12 Aug 2021 · 258 km away

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

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