Reviewed by USGS24y ago
M4.2 earthquake in Owen Fracture Zone region
Wednesday, August 14, 2002, 16:27:15 UTC · 14.629°N, 55.938°E
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck in Owen Fracture Zone region on Wednesday, August 14, 2002, 16:27:15 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.2
- 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
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
4 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Somali and Arabian 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 6 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.2 on August 14, 2002. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
- 4.3Owen Fracture Zone region24y ago · 46 km E of this epicenter
- 4.6Owen Fracture Zone region24y ago · 35 km E of this epicenter
- 4.8Owen Fracture Zone region24y ago · 43 km E of this epicenter
- 4.7Owen Fracture Zone region24y ago · 46 km E of this epicenter
- 5.1Owen Fracture Zone region24y ago · 17 km NW of this epicenter
- 5.2Owen Fracture Zone region24y ago · 14 km NW of this epicenter
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 105 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.7170 km E of Hadibu, YemenDecember 18, 1908 · 242 km S of this epicenter
- 6.2200 km N of Qalansīyah, YemenDecember 20, 1949 · 234 km W of this epicenter
- 5.9167 km N of Qalansīyah, YemenMarch 19, 1928 · 259 km W of this epicenter
- 5.8Owen Fracture Zone regionAugust 13, 2002 · 16 km NW of this epicenter
- 5.8Owen Fracture Zone regionDecember 14, 1985 · 222 km E of this epicenter
- 5.7256 km ENE of Hadibu, YemenJanuary 18, 1935 · 156 km S of this epicenter
- 5.7206 km N of Hadibu, YemenFebruary 8, 1968 · 203 km W of this epicenter
- 5.7Owen Fracture Zone regionMarch 19, 1964 · 52 km SE of this epicenter