Reviewed by USGS31y ago
M4.2 earthquake in Mariana Islands region
Saturday, August 26, 1995, 12:59:21 UTC · 19.084°N, 147.008°E
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck in Mariana Islands region on Saturday, August 26, 1995, 12:59:21 UTC, at a depth of 65.2 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.2
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 65 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
30 tons of TNT
That is about 1/500 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 16 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
65 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
65 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 240 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.7Mariana Islands regionDecember 28, 1940 · 109 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.5Mariana Islands regionJanuary 17, 1940 · 243 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.2Pagan region, Northern Mariana IslandsOctober 24, 1930 · 78 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.1233 km NE of Saipan, Northern Mariana IslandsJuly 2, 1949 · 288 km S of this epicenter
- 7.1Pagan region, Northern Mariana IslandsAugust 23, 1995 · 190 km W of this epicenter
- 6.9Maug Islands region, Northern Mariana IslandsMarch 7, 1962 · 196 km W of this epicenter
- 6.7Pagan region, Northern Mariana IslandsNovember 15, 1954 · 130 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 1 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1902M8.1
Agana
22 Sep 1902 · 161 km away · intensity IX
Severe damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.