M6.4 earthquake 17 km NNE of Gâlâfi, Djibouti

Monday, August 21, 1989, 01:09:06 UTC · 11.874°N, 41.870°E

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 17 km NNE of Gâlâfi, Djibouti on Monday, August 21, 1989, 01:09:06 UTC, at a depth of 15.8 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.5 on August 20, 1989.

Magnitude: 6.4; Strong · mw
Depth: 16 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: VIII; Severe (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 100 km aftershock search areaColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

60 kilotons of TNT

That is about 4 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 126 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

2 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Arabian and African plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: shallow

16 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 100 km

USGS lists 9 M2.5+ earthquakes within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.1 on August 21, 1989. 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 78 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 6 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 312 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1961M6.2
Karakore
1 Jun 1961 · 282 km away · intensity IX
160 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1861
Dubbi
7 May 1861 · 210 km away
106 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1969M6.2
Sardo
29 Mar 1969 · 72 km away · intensity IX
40 deathsUnder $1 million damage
1989M6.3
Galafi, Yabaki; Ethiopia
20 Aug 1989 · 14 km away · intensity IX
6 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
1973M5.9
Djibouti
1 Apr 1973 · 128 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
1909
Djibouti; Yemen
19 Feb 1909 · 71 km away

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

Nearby trackers