Reviewed by USGS26y ago
M3.2 earthquake in Mariana Islands region
Wednesday, April 26, 2000, 23:25:47 UTC · 21.605°N, 143.300°E
A magnitude 3.2 earthquake struck in Mariana Islands region on Wednesday, April 26, 2000, 23:25:47 UTC, at a depth of 280.3 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 3.2
- Minor · mb
- Depth
- 280 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
951 kg of TNT
That is about 1/15,825 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 501 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
7 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
280 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 lists 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.5 on May 16, 2000. 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 215 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.9Volcano Islands, Japan regionNovember 24, 1914 · 108 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.6Volcano Islands, Japan regionMarch 28, 2000 · 93 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.5Volcano Islands, Japan regionFebruary 24, 1934 · 182 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.2Mariana Islands regionJuly 11, 1905 · 62 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2Volcano Islands, Japan regionAugust 27, 1954 · 267 km N of this epicenter
- 7.2Mariana Islands regionJune 19, 1947 · 224 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2Volcano Islands, Japan regionFebruary 1, 1954 · 273 km N of this epicenter
- 7.1Volcano Islands, Japan regionMarch 23, 1913 · 110 km NW 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:
- 1914M8.1
Volcano Islands
24 Nov 1914 · 54 km away
- 2000M7.6
Volcano Islands
28 Mar 2000 · 93 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.