M5.5 Earthquake 66 km ENE of ?d?grat, Ethiopia — December 26, 2022
2022-12-26 12:21:07 UTC (2022-12-26) · approx. 3:21 PM UTC+3 local
Maximum shaking intensity MMI 7.2 (severe).
On December 26, 2022 at 12:21 UTC, a magnitude 5.5 shallow crustal earthquake struck 66 km ENE of ?d?grat, Ethiopia, at a depth of 10.0 km and coordinates 14.5212°, 40.0211°. The USGS PAGER system issued a green alert level for this event, indicating no significant casualties or damage expected. This earthquake was detected by 88 seismic stations with excellent location accuracy and was assigned a USGS significance rating of 465, placing it among routine seismic activity. The nearest populated place is Adigrat (population 65,000).
Physical scale: An earthquake of magnitude 5.5 releases seismic energy equivalent to roughly 3 kilotons of TNT. Empirical fault-scaling laws (Wells & Coppersmith, 1994) estimate the subsurface rupture length at approximately 3.8 km — a useful intuition for the size of the slip patch on the fault.
Nearest Populated Places
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
Population exposure (USGS PAGER)
Estimated population that experienced each level of shaking. Based on the USGS PAGER rapid impact assessment, which combines ShakeMap output with global population grids.
| Shaking intensity (MMI) | Description | Population exposed |
|---|---|---|
| MMI 3 | weak | 9,345,588 |
| MMI 4 | light | 402,442 |
| MMI 5 | moderate | 6,398 |
| MMI 6 | strong | 1,052 |
| MMI 7 | very strong | 2 |
Earthquake Details
40.0211°E
Technical Information
Common Questions
How strong was the magnitude 5.5 earthquake near ?d?grat, Ethiopia?
The magnitude 5.5 earthquake that struck 66 km ENE of ?d?grat, Ethiopia on December 26, 2022 at 12:21 UTC had a depth of 10.0 km. For context, this was a moderate earthquake that could be widely felt.
Where did the earthquake occur?
The earthquake epicenter was located at 14.5212°, 40.0211°, which is 66 km ENE of ?d?grat, Ethiopia. The nearest populated place is Adigrat (population 65,000).
Were there aftershocks?
Aftershock activity is monitored continuously by the USGS. Aftershock sequences from magnitude 5.5 earthquakes can continue for days to weeks and gradually diminish over time.
Authoritative source: USGS event page (event ID: us6000jbsk). All scientific values on this page are sourced verbatim from the USGS feed.
Cite this page: EarthquakeTracker.org. (2022, December 26, 2022). M5.5 Earthquake 66 km ENE of ?d?grat, Ethiopia — December 26, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2024 from https://www.earthquaketracker.org/earthquakes/event/us6000jbsk/