Reviewed by USGS30y ago
M4.6 earthquake in Easter Island region
Thursday, September 5, 1996, 08:56:21 UTC · 22.162°S, 113.401°W
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck in Easter Island region on Thursday, September 5, 1996, 08:56:21 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.9 on September 5, 1996.
- Magnitude
- 4.6
- 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
120 tons of TNT
That is about 1/126 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 4 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
3 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Easter and Nazca 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 lists 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.2 on September 5, 1996. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 48 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.9Easter Island regionSeptember 5, 1996 · 6 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.5Easter Island regionNovember 2, 1932 · 150 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.3southern East Pacific RiseApril 8, 1954 · 214 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.3Easter Island regionJuly 23, 1956 · 237 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.2southern East Pacific RiseFebruary 20, 1951 · 116 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.2southern East Pacific RiseJuly 26, 1976 · 29 km N of this epicenter
- 6.2Easter Island regionApril 23, 1955 · 294 km S of this epicenter
- 6.1Easter Island regionJuly 18, 1952 · 161 km SW 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:
- 1996M6.9
Easter Island Region
5 Sep 1996 · 6 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.