Reviewed by USGS26y ago
M4.5 earthquake in Mariana Islands region
Tuesday, May 16, 2000, 20:08:49 UTC · 21.695°N, 142.968°E
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck in Mariana Islands region on Tuesday, May 16, 2000, 20:08:49 UTC, at a depth of 326.6 km (deep). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.5 on May 16, 2000.
- Magnitude
- 4.5
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 327 km
- Deep
- 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
85 tons of TNT
That is about 1/178 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 6 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
24 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: deep
327 km
Deep earthquakes (over 300 km) happen deep inside subducting plates. They rarely cause damage, but can be felt faintly over very large distances.
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 213 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 · 78 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.6Volcano Islands, Japan regionMarch 28, 2000 · 106 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.5Volcano Islands, Japan regionFebruary 24, 1934 · 190 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.2Mariana Islands regionJuly 11, 1905 · 97 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2Volcano Islands, Japan regionAugust 27, 1954 · 255 km N of this epicenter
- 7.2Mariana Islands regionJune 19, 1947 · 259 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2Volcano Islands, Japan regionMay 30, 1955 · 297 km N of this epicenter
- 7.2Volcano Islands, Japan regionFebruary 1, 1954 · 268 km N 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 · 34 km away
- 2000M7.6
Volcano Islands
28 Mar 2000 · 106 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.