M3.7 earthquake 62 km SW of Merizo Village, Guam

Monday, May 26, 1997, 14:56:39 UTC · 12.891°N, 144.236°E

A magnitude 3.7 earthquake struck 62 km SW of Merizo Village, Guam on Monday, May 26, 1997, 14:56:39 UTC, at a depth of 150.0 km (intermediate).

Magnitude: 3.7; Minor · mb
Depth: 150 km; Intermediate
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

5 tons of TNT

That is about 1/2,814 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 89 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

64 km

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

Depth: intermediate

150 km

Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.

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 414 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 10 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

1993M7.8
Tuman Bay, Apra Harbor
8 Aug 1993 · 62 km away · intensity IX
$250 million damagetsunami
1849M7.5
Guam
25 Jan 1849 · 160 km away · intensity IX
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1909M8.0
Guam
9 Dec 1909 · 94 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1892M7.5
Guam
16 May 1892 · 160 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1825
Ladrones Island
Apr 1825 · 160 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1834
Agana
May 1834 · 160 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)

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

Nearby trackers