M4.9 Earthquake south of Africa — December 26, 2020
2020-12-26 22:20:16 UTC (2020-12-26) · approx. 12:20 AM UTC+2 local
Felt by 1 person across nearby locations.
On December 26, 2020 at 22:20 UTC, a magnitude 4.9 shallow crustal earthquake struck south of Africa, at a depth of 10.0 km and coordinates -52.4773°, 26.5861°.
Physical scale: An earthquake of magnitude 4.9 releases seismic energy equivalent to roughly 338 metric tons of TNT. Empirical fault-scaling laws (Wells & Coppersmith, 1994) estimate the subsurface rupture length at approximately 1.4 km — a useful intuition for the size of the slip patch on the fault.
Did You Feel It? — community-reported shaking
Aggregated felt-report intensity from 1 citizen response to the USGS Did You Feel It? system. Each colored zone represents the average MMI from reports in that area.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey Did You Feel It?. View on USGS · submit your own report
Earthquake Details
26.5861°E
Technical Information
Common Questions
How strong was the magnitude 4.9 earthquake south of Africa?
The magnitude 4.9 earthquake that struck south of Africa on December 26, 2020 at 22:20 UTC had a depth of 10.0 km. For context, this was a light earthquake commonly felt near the epicenter.
Where did the earthquake occur?
The earthquake epicenter was located at -52.4773°, 26.5861°, which is south of Africa.
Were there aftershocks?
Aftershock activity is monitored continuously by the USGS. Aftershock sequences from magnitude 4.9 earthquakes can continue for several days and gradually diminish over time.
Actions
Authoritative source: USGS event page (event ID: us6000d3a9). All scientific values on this page are sourced verbatim from the USGS feed.
Cite this page: EarthquakeTracker.org. (2020, December 26, 2020). M4.9 Earthquake south of Africa — December 26, 2020. Retrieved December 22, 2025 from https://www.earthquaketracker.org/earthquakes/event/us6000d3a9/