Reviewed by USGS18y ago
M6.9 earthquake northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Friday, February 8, 2008, 09:38:14 UTC · 10.671°N, 41.899°W
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge on Friday, February 8, 2008, 09:38:14 UTC, at a depth of 9.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.0 on June 2, 1996.
- Magnitude
- 6.9
- Strong · mwc
- Depth
- 9 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: 100 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
338 kilotons of TNT
That is about 22 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 708 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
18 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the African and South American plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
9 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 100 km
USGS lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.8 on February 9, 2008. 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 55 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.1northern Mid-Atlantic RidgeOctober 13, 1925 · 42 km W of this epicenter
- 7.1northern Mid-Atlantic RidgeDecember 2, 1918 · 208 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.0northern Mid-Atlantic RidgeFebruary 22, 1929 · 13 km W of this epicenter
- 7.0northern Mid-Atlantic RidgeJune 2, 1996 · 41 km W of this epicenter
- 6.9northern Mid-Atlantic RidgeMarch 17, 1962 · 149 km W of this epicenter
- 6.8central Mid-Atlantic RidgeApril 21, 1919 · 251 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.7northern Mid-Atlantic RidgeJuly 13, 1906 · 77 km W of this epicenter
- 6.6northern Mid-Atlantic RidgeSeptember 3, 1927 · 173 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 1 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1925M7.5
North Atlantic Ridge
13 Oct 1925 · 38 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.