Reviewed by USGS24y ago
M4.6 earthquake in Owen Fracture Zone region
Saturday, August 24, 2002, 02:16:41 UTC · 14.563°N, 56.254°E
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck in Owen Fracture Zone region on Saturday, August 24, 2002, 02:16:41 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.8 on August 24, 2002.
- Magnitude
- 4.6
- 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
120 tons of TNT
That is about 1/126 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 4 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
6 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Somali and Indian 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 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.3 on August 25, 2002. 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 103 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 · 243 km S of this epicenter
- 6.2200 km N of Qalansīyah, YemenDecember 20, 1949 · 268 km W of this epicenter
- 5.9167 km N of Qalansīyah, YemenMarch 19, 1928 · 291 km W of this epicenter
- 5.8Owen Fracture Zone regionAugust 13, 2002 · 48 km NW of this epicenter
- 5.8Owen Fracture Zone regionDecember 14, 1985 · 188 km E of this epicenter
- 5.7256 km ENE of Hadibu, YemenJanuary 18, 1935 · 144 km S of this epicenter
- 5.7206 km N of Hadibu, YemenFebruary 8, 1968 · 236 km W of this epicenter
- 5.7Owen Fracture Zone regionMarch 19, 1964 · 24 km S of this epicenter