Reviewed by USGSPhilippines5y ago
M4.3 earthquake 146 km SE of Pondaguitan, Philippines
Thursday, September 9, 2021, 15:18:00 UTC · 5.459°N, 127.152°E
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck 146 km SE of Pondaguitan, Philippines on Thursday, September 9, 2021, 15:18:00 UTC, at a depth of 48.8 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.3
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 49 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
39 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
49 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 1,791 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 · 169 km NW of this epicenter
- 8.01972 Mindanao, Philippines EarthquakeDecember 2, 1972 · 121 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.947 km ESE of Kalbay, PhilippinesMarch 14, 1913 · 140 km W of this epicenter
- 7.877 km E of Baculin, PhilippinesMay 25, 1943 · 213 km N of this epicenter
- 7.8161 km SE of Sarangani, PhilippinesApril 1, 1936 · 158 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.6101 km SE of Sarangani, PhilippinesDecember 16, 1910 · 153 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.6223 km ESE of Sarangani, PhilippinesJanuary 30, 1969 · 91 km S of this epicenter
- 7.521 km SE of Lukatan, PhilippinesJanuary 1, 2001 · 172 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 35 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 3,000 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1856
Sangihe Pulau (Volcanic)
2 Mar 1856 · 270 km away
2,806 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1913M7.8
Sangihe Island
14 Mar 1913 · 115 km away · intensity IX
138 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 2019M6.8
Mindanao: Davao
15 Dec 2019 · 258 km away
13 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 2019M6.6
Mindanao: Cotabato, Davao
29 Oct 2019 · 277 km away
13 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 2019M6.5
Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat
31 Oct 2019 · 273 km away
10 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 2019M6.4
Mindanao: Cotabato, Davao
16 Oct 2019 · 275 km away · intensity VII
7 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.