Reviewed by USGSDjibouti37y ago
M4.4 earthquake 40 km W of Arta, Djibouti
Monday, August 21, 1989, 06:46:40 UTC · 11.533°N, 42.481°E
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 40 km W of Arta, Djibouti on Monday, August 21, 1989, 06:46:40 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.4
- Light · 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
60 tons of TNT
That is about 1/251 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 8 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
18 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Somali and Arabian 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 50 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 72 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.512 km ENE of Gâlâfi, DjiboutiAugust 20, 1989 · 64 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.417 km NNE of Gâlâfi, DjiboutiAugust 21, 1989 · 77 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.347 km ESE of Kemisē, EthiopiaSeptember 27, 1938 · 271 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.217 km NE of Dubti, EthiopiaMarch 29, 1969 · 147 km W of this epicenter
- 6.210 km WNW of Djibouti, DjiboutiMarch 11, 1961 · 65 km E of this epicenter
- 6.136 km ENE of Dubti, EthiopiaApril 5, 1969 · 128 km W of this epicenter
- 6.118 km NNE of Gâlâfi, DjiboutiAugust 20, 1989 · 76 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.126 km NNW of Gâlâfi, DjiboutiAugust 21, 1989 · 90 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 5 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 152 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1861
Dubbi
7 May 1861 · 265 km away
106 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1969M6.2
Sardo
29 Mar 1969 · 144 km away · intensity IX
40 deathsUnder $1 million damage
- 1989M6.3
Galafi, Yabaki; Ethiopia
20 Aug 1989 · 64 km away · intensity IX
6 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1973M5.9
Djibouti
1 Apr 1973 · 61 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1909
Djibouti; Yemen
19 Feb 1909 · 19 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.