M4.5 Earthquake 2 km NNE of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo — May 23, 2021
2021-05-23 20:38:56 UTC (2021-05-23) · approx. 10:38 PM UTC+2 local
Felt by 6 people across nearby locations.
On May 23, 2021 at 20:38 UTC, a magnitude 4.5 shallow crustal earthquake struck 2 km NNE of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, at a depth of 10.0 km and coordinates -1.6519°, 29.2368°.
Physical scale: An earthquake of magnitude 4.5 releases seismic energy equivalent to roughly 85 metric tons of TNT. Empirical fault-scaling laws (Wells & Coppersmith, 1994) estimate the subsurface rupture length at approximately 767 m — 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 6 citizen responses 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
29.2368°E
Technical Information
Common Questions
How strong was the magnitude 4.5 earthquake near Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo?
The magnitude 4.5 earthquake that struck 2 km NNE of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo on May 23, 2021 at 20:38 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 -1.6519°, 29.2368°, which is 2 km NNE of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Were there aftershocks?
Aftershock activity is monitored continuously by the USGS. Aftershock sequences from magnitude 4.5 earthquakes can continue for several days and gradually diminish over time.
Actions
Authoritative source: USGS event page (event ID: us7000e5l6). All scientific values on this page are sourced verbatim from the USGS feed.
Cite this page: EarthquakeTracker.org. (2021, May 23, 2021). M4.5 Earthquake 2 km NNE of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo — May 23, 2021. Retrieved July 31, 2021 from https://www.earthquaketracker.org/earthquakes/event/us7000e5l6/