Reviewed by USGS12y ago
M5.3 earthquake in Easter Island region
Saturday, September 6, 2014, 19:52:57 UTC · 26.607°S, 114.721°W
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck in Easter Island region on Saturday, September 6, 2014, 19:52:57 UTC, at a depth of 11.6 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.9 on September 6, 2014.
- Magnitude
- 5.3
- Moderate · mb
- Depth
- 12 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
1 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/11 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 3 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
9 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Easter and Pacific plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
12 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 M5.2 on September 21, 2014. 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 129 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.6Easter Island regionNovember 28, 2004 · 89 km E of this epicenter
- 6.5Easter Island regionDecember 30, 1951 · 118 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.5Easter Island regionMarch 7, 1963 · 135 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.5Easter Island regionSeptember 15, 1935 · 136 km E of this epicenter
- 6.4southern East Pacific RiseFebruary 19, 1951 · 263 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.3Easter Island regionJanuary 5, 1932 · 95 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.3Easter Island regionMay 5, 1988 · 147 km E of this epicenter
- 6.3Easter Island regionApril 22, 1969 · 72 km E of this epicenter