M6.5 Earthquake east of the South Sandwich Islands — September 29, 2022
2022-09-29 03:03:24 UTC (2022-09-29) · approx. 2:03 AM UTC-1 local
Felt by 1 person across nearby locations. 0
On September 29, 2022 at 03:03 UTC, a magnitude 6.5 shallow crustal earthquake struck east of the South Sandwich Islands, at a depth of 11.0 km and coordinates -60.8308°, -20.0250°.0 The USGS PAGER system issued a green alert level for this event, indicating no significant casualties or damage expected. This earthquake was detected by 125 seismic stations with excellent location accuracy and was assigned a USGS significance rating of 650, making it a moderate-impact event.
Physical scale: An earthquake of magnitude 6.5 releases seismic energy equivalent to roughly 85 kilotons of TNT. Empirical fault-scaling laws (Wells & Coppersmith, 1994) estimate the subsurface rupture length at approximately 18 km — a useful intuition for the size of the slip patch on the fault.
The epicenter is located in South Sandwich Islands, a region characterized by the South Sandwich Trench, one of Earth's most remote subduction zones.
Learn more: Magnitude scale · Aftershock sequences
ShakeMap — predicted shaking intensity
Modeled ground-motion intensity contoured on the Modified Mercalli scale (MMI). Computed by the USGS from the moment-tensor solution and regional ground-motion prediction equations.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey ShakeMap. View interactive ShakeMap on USGS
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
-20.0250°E
Technical Information
Nearby Earthquakes (Last 7 Days)
Common Questions
How strong was the magnitude 6.5 earthquake east of the South Sandwich Islands?
The magnitude 6.5 earthquake that struck east of the South Sandwich Islands on September 29, 2022 at 03:03 UTC had a depth of 11.0 km. For context, this was a strong earthquake capable of causing significant damage.
Where did the earthquake occur?
The earthquake epicenter was located at -60.8308°, -20.0250°, which is east of the South Sandwich Islands.
Were there aftershocks?
Aftershock activity is monitored continuously by the USGS. Aftershock sequences from magnitude 6.5 earthquakes can continue for weeks to months and gradually diminish over time.
Actions
Authoritative source: USGS event page (event ID: us6000ip57). All scientific values on this page are sourced verbatim from the USGS feed.
Cite this page: EarthquakeTracker.org. (2022, September 29, 2022). M6.5 Earthquake east of the South Sandwich Islands — September 29, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2022 from https://www.earthquaketracker.org/earthquakes/event/us6000ip57/