Strong and shallow M6.3 earthquake – southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge

strong-and-shallow-m6-3-earthquake-southern-mid-atlantic-ridge

Strong and shallow M6.3 earthquake was registered off the coast of Saint Helena, southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 04:53 UTC on May 24, 2015. USGS is reporting depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). EMSC reports M6.4 at the same depth.

According to the USGS, epicenter was located 910 km (565 miles) W of Jamestown, Saint Helena, 2 436 km (1 514 miles) ESE of Sao Jose da Coroa Grande, Brazil and 2 585 km (1 606 miles) S of Monrovia, Liberia.

There are no people living within 100 km radius.

Since May 19, 2015, USGS registered 4 moderate to strong earthquakes in this area:

Image credit: USGS

  1. 6.3Southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge2015-05-24 04:53:22 UTC10.0 km
  2. 4.9Southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge2015-05-24 04:07:20 UTC10.0 km
  3. 5.0Southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge2015-05-24 00:39:36 UTC10.0 km
  4. 5.2Southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge2015-05-19 10:14:10 UTC10.0 km
Data source: USGS (Updated at 07:58 UTC on May 24, 2015)

 

The following image shows historic seismicity in this region, since 1950 – May 24, 2015:

Image credit: EMSC (Edit: TW)

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the longest mountain range in the world. It separates the Eurasian Plate and North American Plate in the North Atlantic, and the African Plate from the South American Plate in the South Atlantic.

Although the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is mostly an underwater feature, portions of it have enough elevation to extend above sea level. The section of the ridge which includes the island of Iceland is also known as the Reykjanes Ridge. The average spreading rate for the ridge is about 2.5 cm per year.

Featured image credit: USGS

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