Reviewed by USGS26y ago
M4.2 earthquake in Mariana Islands region
Saturday, May 27, 2000, 13:49:34 UTC · 21.794°N, 144.477°E
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck in Mariana Islands region on Saturday, May 27, 2000, 13:49:34 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.2
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 33 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
131 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Philippine Sea and Mariana plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
33 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 221 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 · 207 km W of this epicenter
- 7.6Volcano Islands, Japan regionMarch 28, 2000 · 98 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.5Volcano Islands, Japan regionFebruary 24, 1934 · 154 km N of this epicenter
- 7.2Mariana Islands regionJuly 11, 1905 · 65 km W of this epicenter
- 7.2Volcano Islands, Japan regionAugust 27, 1954 · 286 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.2Mariana Islands regionJune 19, 1947 · 105 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2Volcano Islands, Japan regionFebruary 1, 1954 · 272 km N of this epicenter
- 7.1Volcano Islands, Japan regionMarch 23, 1913 · 214 km W 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 · 154 km away
- 2000M7.6
Volcano Islands
28 Mar 2000 · 98 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.