Reviewed by USGS18y ago
M7.0 earthquake in South Sandwich Islands region
Monday, June 30, 2008, 06:17:43 UTC · 58.227°S, 22.099°W
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck in South Sandwich Islands region on Monday, June 30, 2008, 06:17:43 UTC, at a depth of 8.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.1 on August 26, 1977.
- Magnitude
- 7.0
- Major · mwc
- Depth
- 8 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: 200 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
477 kilotons of TNT
That is about 32 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1,000 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
3 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Pacific and Australian plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
8 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 200 km
USGS lists 9 M2.5+ earthquakes within 200 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.6 on July 1, 2008. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
- 4.3South Sandwich Islands region18y ago · 87 km W of this epicenter
- 4.7east of the South Sandwich Islands18y ago · 37 km NE of this epicenter
- 5.0South Sandwich Islands region18y ago · 18 km N of this epicenter
- 4.5east of the South Sandwich Islands18y ago · 17 km SE of this epicenter
- 4.7east of the South Sandwich Islands18y ago · 21 km N of this epicenter
- 4.8east of the South Sandwich Islands18y ago · 13 km NE of this epicenter
- 5.6east of the South Sandwich Islands18y ago · 17 km NE of this epicenter
- 5.3South Sandwich Islands region18y ago · 11 km SW of this epicenter
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 520 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.3South Sandwich Islands regionSeptember 1, 1961 · 295 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.2South Sandwich Islands regionNovember 15, 1910 · 145 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.1east of the South Sandwich IslandsAugust 26, 1977 · 162 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.0east of the South Sandwich IslandsOctober 6, 1973 · 290 km S of this epicenter
- 6.8South Sandwich Islands regionNovember 2, 1943 · 287 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.8South Sandwich Islands regionFebruary 23, 2008 · 127 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.7South Sandwich Islands regionJanuary 10, 1993 · 264 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.7east of the South Sandwich IslandsMay 7, 1982 · 272 km S 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:
- 1961M7.7
South Sandwich Islands
5 Sep 1961 · 289 km away
- 1973M7.5
Antarctica
6 Oct 1973 · 290 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.