Reviewed by USGS40y ago
M5.2 earthquake in South Sandwich Islands region
Saturday, February 21, 1987, 10:59:09 UTC · 60.428°S, 26.454°W
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck in South Sandwich Islands region on Saturday, February 21, 1987, 10:59:09 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.5 on February 17, 1987.
- Magnitude
- 5.2
- Moderate · ms
- Depth
- 33 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 earthquake
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
2 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Sandwich and Antarctic plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
33 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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 247 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.5South Sandwich Islands regionAugust 28, 1933 · 40 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.3South Sandwich Islands regionSeptember 1, 1961 · 130 km N of this epicenter
- 7.2South Sandwich Islands regionNovember 15, 1910 · 203 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.2South Sandwich Islands regionOctober 22, 1983 · 61 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.0east of the South Sandwich IslandsOctober 6, 1973 · 271 km E of this epicenter
- 7.0South Sandwich Islands regionJanuary 30, 1987 · 48 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.0South Sandwich Islands regionDecember 14, 1959 · 56 km N of this epicenter
- 7.0South Sandwich Islands regionMarch 9, 1943 · 111 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 3 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1961M7.7
South Sandwich Islands
5 Sep 1961 · 272 km away
- 1961M7.5
South Sandwich Islands
1 Sep 1961 · 113 km away
- 1973M7.5
Antarctica
6 Oct 1973 · 271 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.