M4.6 earthquake 294 km NNE of Fais, Micronesia

Friday, September 3, 2010, 20:18:40 UTC · 12.199°N, 141.610°E

A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck 294 km NNE of Fais, Micronesia on Friday, September 3, 2010, 20:18:40 UTC, at a depth of 42.6 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.9 on September 3, 2010.

Magnitude: 4.6; Light · mb
Depth: 43 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

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

114 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Philippine Sea and Pacific plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.

Depth: shallow

43 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 450 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 7 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

1849M7.5
Guam
25 Jan 1849 · 271 km away · intensity IX
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1892M7.5
Guam
16 May 1892 · 271 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1825
Ladrones Island
Apr 1825 · 271 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1834
Agana
May 1834 · 271 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
1903
Guam
10 Feb 1903 · 271 km away · intensity VII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
2010M6.9
Guam, Northern Mariana Islands
13 Aug 2010 · 35 km away
tsunami

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers