The January 15, 1953 earthquake
M5.2near P?hala, Hawaii
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake 14.9 miles deep, centred in Hawaii County. The 66th strongest in Hawaii’s record since 1900, and the strongest within 50 miles since a magnitude 6.3 on August 21, 1951.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.2
- surface-wave magnitude (ms)
- Depth
- 14.9 mi
- 24.0 km below the surface
- Local time
- Thursday, January 15, 1953
- 02:05 HST; 12:05 UTC
- In Hawaii’s record
- 66th
- strongest of 39,637 since 1900
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, event ushis1880 (“13 km NNE of P?hala, Hawaii”). The USGS event page carries the ShakeMap, felt reports and the official summary.
Counties and cities within 50 miles
Distance from the epicentre to each county boundary (zero when inside) and to each city centre.
Counties
- Hawaii CountyHI · inside
Earthquakes around the epicentre
7,133 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or more within 50 miles of this epicentre since 1973.
Earlier earthquakes of magnitude 5 or more within 50 miles, strongest first
- September 20, 1908M6.7
- October 5, 1929M6.5
- March 28, 1915M6.4
- August 21, 1951M6.3
- November 1, 1918M6.2
- May 3, 1905M6.2
- September 14, 1919M6.1
- January 2, 1935M5.9
- October 25, 1913M5.8
- December 27, 1944M5.6
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog. Local time is the time zone of the county nearest the epicentre. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them.