M7.0 earthquake 152 km ENE of Bhamo, Myanmar

Saturday, May 29, 1976, 14:00:18 UTC · 24.531°N, 98.710°E

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck 152 km ENE of Bhamo, Myanmar on Saturday, May 29, 1976, 14:00:18 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.6 on January 27, 1931.

Magnitude: 7.0; Major · ms
Depth: 10 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: VII; Very strong (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 200 km aftershock search areaColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

477 kilotons of TNT

That is about 32 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1,000 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

248 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Indian and Eurasian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.

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 200 km

USGS lists 16 M2.5+ earthquakes within 200 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.2 on May 31, 1976. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 105 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 36 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 7,353 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1925M6.9
Yunnan Province: Talifu
16 Mar 1925 · 216 km away
5,800 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
1751M6.8
Yunnan Province
25 May 1751 · 249 km away · intensity IX
900 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
1803M6.0
Yunnan Province
1 Feb 1803 · 224 km away · intensity VIII
200 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
1839M6.0
Yunnan Province
23 Feb 1839 · 212 km away · intensity VIII
129 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
1948M6.8
Yunnan Province
27 Jun 1948 · 230 km away · intensity VIII
110 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
1839M6.0
Yunnan Province
7 Feb 1839 · 212 km away · intensity VIII
100 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers