Reviewed by USGS4y ago
M4.7 earthquake in South Sandwich Islands region
Wednesday, March 30, 2022, 03:07:08 UTC · 59.141°S, 26.453°W
A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck in South Sandwich Islands region on Wednesday, March 30, 2022, 03:07:08 UTC, at a depth of 80.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.9 on March 29, 2022.
- Magnitude
- 4.7
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 80 km
- Intermediate
- 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
169 tons of TNT
That is about 1/89 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 3 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
101 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Australian and Antarctic plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: intermediate
80 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 1,274 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.12021 South Sandwich Islands EarthquakeAugust 12, 2021 · 109 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.5South Sandwich Islands regionAugust 12, 2021 · 194 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.5South Sandwich Islands regionAugust 28, 1933 · 128 km S of this epicenter
- 7.3South Sandwich Islands regionSeptember 1, 1961 · 25 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.3South Sandwich Islands regionJuly 15, 2013 · 206 km S of this epicenter
- 7.2South Sandwich Islands regionNovember 15, 1910 · 143 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2South Sandwich Islands regionOctober 22, 1983 · 178 km S of this epicenter
- 7.1South Sandwich Islands regionAugust 22, 2021 · 155 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 4 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 2021M8.1
South Sandwich Islands
12 Aug 2021 · 104 km away
tsunami
- 1961M7.7
South Sandwich Islands
5 Sep 1961 · 131 km away
- 1961M7.5
South Sandwich Islands
1 Sep 1961 · 62 km away
- 2021M7.5
South Sandwich Islands
12 Aug 2021 · 187 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.