Reviewed by USGSPhilippines5y ago
M4.5 earthquake 88 km ESE of Pondaguitan, Philippines
Wednesday, September 8, 2021, 05:15:18 UTC · 6.097°N, 126.930°E
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 88 km ESE of Pondaguitan, Philippines on Wednesday, September 8, 2021, 05:15:18 UTC, at a depth of 57.6 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.6 on September 7, 2021.
- Magnitude
- 4.5
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 58 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
85 tons of TNT
That is about 1/178 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 6 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
47 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Philippine Sea and Sunda plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
58 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 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.4 on September 22, 2021. 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 1,748 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.11924 Mindanao, Philippines EarthquakeApril 14, 1924 · 103 km NW of this epicenter
- 8.01972 Mindanao, Philippines EarthquakeDecember 2, 1972 · 47 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.947 km ESE of Kalbay, PhilippinesMarch 14, 1913 · 130 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.877 km E of Baculin, PhilippinesMay 25, 1943 · 147 km N of this epicenter
- 7.8161 km SE of Sarangani, PhilippinesApril 1, 1936 · 213 km S of this epicenter
- 7.774 km ENE of Barcelona, PhilippinesJuly 12, 1911 · 266 km N of this epicenter
- 7.6101 km SE of Sarangani, PhilippinesDecember 16, 1910 · 188 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.6223 km ESE of Sarangani, PhilippinesJanuary 30, 1969 · 166 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 44 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 212 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1913M7.8
Sangihe Island
14 Mar 1913 · 122 km away · intensity IX
138 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 2002M7.5
Mindanao
5 Mar 2002 · 297 km away
15 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
- 2019M6.8
Mindanao: Davao
15 Dec 2019 · 204 km away
13 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 2019M6.6
Mindanao: Cotabato, Davao
29 Oct 2019 · 223 km away
13 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 2019M6.5
Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat
31 Oct 2019 · 216 km away
10 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 2019M6.4
Mindanao: Cotabato, Davao
16 Oct 2019 · 223 km away · intensity VII
7 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.