Reviewed by USGSNorthern Mariana Islands36y ago
M4.4 earthquake 170 km ESE of Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands
Wednesday, May 23, 1990, 16:55:52 UTC · 14.649°N, 147.225°E
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 170 km ESE of Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands on Wednesday, May 23, 1990, 16:55:52 UTC, at a depth of 42.6 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.4
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 43 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
13 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Mariana and Pacific plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
43 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 245 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.6198 km E of Saipan, Northern Mariana IslandsApril 5, 1990 · 66 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.5Mariana Islands regionJanuary 17, 1940 · 291 km N of this epicenter
- 7.1233 km NE of Saipan, Northern Mariana IslandsJuly 2, 1949 · 211 km N of this epicenter
- 7.0176 km ESE of San Jose Village, Northern Mariana IslandsMay 18, 1913 · 46 km S of this epicenter
- 7.032 km NNE of Yigo Village, GuamOctober 26, 1912 · 262 km W of this epicenter
- 7.0233 km ESE of Saipan, Northern Mariana IslandsJune 14, 1942 · 66 km E of this epicenter
- 6.5258 km NE of Saipan, Northern Mariana IslandsDecember 1, 1938 · 267 km N of this epicenter
- 6.446 km ENE of Yigo Village, GuamOctober 29, 1936 · 234 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 2 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1975M6.1
Guam
1 Nov 1975 · 281 km away · intensity VII
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1990M7.5
Saipan; Guam
5 Apr 1990 · 66 km away · intensity IV
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.