M7.4 Earthquake near 2025 Drake Passage Earthquake — May 2, 2025
2025-05-02 12:58:26 UTC (2025-05-02) · approx. 7:58 AM UTC-5 local
Felt by 53 people across nearby locations. Maximum shaking intensity MMI 5.2 (strong).
On May 2, 2025 at 12:58 UTC, a magnitude 7.4 shallow crustal earthquake struck near 2025 Drake Passage Earthquake, at a depth of 10.0 km and coordinates -56.8094°, -68.1019°. The earthquake was reported felt by 53 peopleacross nearby locations, with a maximum shaking intensity of Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) 5.2 (strong). The USGS PAGER system issued a green alert level for this event, indicating no significant casualties or damage expected. This earthquake was detected by 284 seismic stations with excellent location accuracy and was assigned a USGS significance rating of 890, making it one of the more significant events of the week. The nearest populated place is Rio Grande (population 0).
Physical scale: An earthquake of magnitude 7.4 releases seismic energy equivalent to roughly 1.9 megatons of TNT. Empirical fault-scaling laws (Wells & Coppersmith, 1994) estimate the subsurface rupture length at approximately 77 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
Did You Feel It? — community-reported shaking
Aggregated felt-report intensity from 53 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
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 | 3,317 |
| MMI 4 | light | 110,516 |
| MMI 5 | moderate | 72,646 |
Earthquake Details
-68.1019°E
Technical Information
Nearby Earthquakes (Last 7 Days)
Common Questions
How strong was the magnitude 7.4 earthquake near 2025 Drake Passage Earthquake?
The magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck near 2025 Drake Passage Earthquake on May 2, 2025 at 12:58 UTC had a depth of 10.0 km. It was felt by 53 people with maximum shaking intensity of MMI 5.2 (strong). For context, this was a strong earthquake capable of causing significant damage.
Where did the earthquake occur?
The earthquake epicenter was located at -56.8094°, -68.1019°, which is near 2025 Drake Passage Earthquake. The nearest populated place is Rio Grande (population 0).
Were there aftershocks?
Aftershock activity is monitored continuously by the USGS. Aftershock sequences from magnitude 7.4 earthquakes can continue for months to years and gradually diminish over time.
Actions
Authoritative source: USGS event page (event ID: us7000pwkn). All scientific values on this page are sourced verbatim from the USGS feed.
Cite this page: EarthquakeTracker.org. (2025, May 2, 2025). M7.4 Earthquake near 2025 Drake Passage Earthquake — May 2, 2025. Retrieved July 12, 2025 from https://www.earthquaketracker.org/earthquakes/event/us7000pwkn/