Earthquakes in Ethiopia
In Ethiopia, earthquakes can be strong and cause heavy damages in a circle of dozens of kilometers. Measured against the size of the country, earthquakes occur very rarely.70 people died since 1950 by direct consequences of earthquakes.
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Most recent events
This list includes the strongest earthquakes recorded in or around Ethiopia by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in the past 14 days. Whether an event is listed here depends largely on its magnitude, but also on its distance from inhabited areas. All data refer to the local time. This page is updated daily at 10:00 UTC.
- May 15, 10:05 pmMagnitude 4.7: 26 km north of Adi Keyh, Eritrea at a depth of 10.0 km.
Earthquakes in Ethiopia since 1950
The strongest earthquake in Ethiopia happened on 06/01/1961 in the Karakore region with a magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter scale. The shifting of tectonic plates in a depth of 21 km resulted in 30 deaths.Date | Region | Depth | Magnitude | Deaths | Total damage |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
12/16/2010 | Jima, Hosa'ina, Shenk'ola, Wenjela | 24 km | 5.1 | 0 | |
09/24/2005 | Dabbahu | 2 km | 5.6 | 0 | |
04/01/1973 | Djibouti | 37 km | 5.9 | 0 | |
03/29/1969 | Sardo | 54 km | 6.2 | 40 | |
06/01/1961 | Karakore | 21 km | 6.5 | 30 |
These statistics are based on datas from the National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): Significant Earthquake Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K. Data have been summarized and translated.