Reviewed by USGS6mo ago
M5.2 earthquake northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Monday, March 30, 2026, 14:43:32 UTC · 23.973°N, 45.970°W
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge on Monday, March 30, 2026, 14:43:32 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.6 on March 21, 2026.
- Magnitude
- 5.2
- Moderate · mb
- Depth
- 10 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: 75 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
951 tons of TNT
That is about 1/16 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 2 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
16 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the North American and African plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
10 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 75 km
USGS lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.8 on April 8, 2026. 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 108 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.8northern Mid-Atlantic RidgeJanuary 9, 1922 · 21 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.6northern Mid-Atlantic RidgeMarch 21, 2026 · 21 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.4northern Mid-Atlantic RidgeMay 19, 1963 · 32 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.4northern Mid-Atlantic RidgeJune 10, 1991 · 65 km E of this epicenter
- 6.3northern Mid-Atlantic RidgeMarch 26, 1980 · 43 km E of this epicenter
- 6.2northern Mid-Atlantic RidgeOctober 14, 1924 · 25 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.1northern Mid-Atlantic RidgeJune 21, 2016 · 169 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.0northern Mid-Atlantic RidgeMay 6, 1944 · 181 km SE of this epicenter