Shallow M5.1 Earthquake struck on Monday Night near Metahāra in Ethiopia.

Written by Earthquakelist.org on December 29th, 2024. Last updated January 25th, 2025.

A shallow and significant MAG-5.1 earthquake struck under land 43 kilometer from Metahāra in Ethiopia in the night of Monday December 30th, 2024.

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Earthquake Summary

The earthquake struck on land in Ethiopia, 43 kilometer (27 mi) north-northeast of Metahāra in Oromiya. The center of this earthquake had a very shallow depth of 10 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Dec 30, 2024 01:20AM (Addis Ababa Time) - Dec 29, 2024 22:20 Universal Time.
Location:	43 km NNE of Metahāra, Oromiya, Ethiopia. Coordinates 9°15'5"N 40°4'57"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.1 Detected by 8 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.11 .
Depth:	10 km (6 mi) A very shallow depth.
Tsunami Risk:	Tsunami very unlikely While this was a shallow earthquake, it appears to have occurred under land with a magnitude not strong enough to cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here.

Impact

The US Geographic Survey (USGS) describes the impact of this earthquake as follows:

At least 30 homes destroyed; at least 100 homes, buildings and 1 road damaged; and ground fractures reported in the Awash Fentale-Dulecha area.

Nearby towns and cities

This earthquake may have been felt in Ethiopia . Metahāra in Oromiya, Ethiopia is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 43 kilometer (27 mi) north-northeast of Metahāra.

Major cities near this earthquake: Addis Ababa is located 149 km to the west. Nazrēt is located 119 km to the southwest. Dire Dawa is located 199 km to the east.

A complete list of nearby places is included below.

Overview of nearby places

Shaking reported by 17 people

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 17 people have reported shaking in 2 places in Ethiopia.We keep updating this article as more ground reports become available. You may report that you felt this earthquake here.

Places with most reports:

• Addis Ababa, Addis Abeba, Ethiopia: 16 people.
• Āsbe Teferi, Oromia, Ethiopia: 1 person.

52 Aftershocks detected

After this earthquake struck, 52 smaller aftershocks occurred. Just 24 hrs after this main shock, an earthquake measuring MAG-5.1 was detected 52 km (32 mi) north-east of this earthquake.

Before this earthquake struck, 27 smaller foreshocks occurred. Roughly 5 hrs before this earthquake, a foreshock measuring MAG-4.9 was detected nearby this earthquake.

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

More earthquakes coming?

Aftershocks are usually at least 1 order of magnitude less strong than main shocks. The more time passes, the smaller the chance and likely strength of any potential aftershocks.

In only six percent of cases, significant earthquakes are followed by a larger main shock, making the current earthquake a foreshock. While the chance of this happening is not so large, it is adviced to maintain cautiousness in the hours and days following a major earthquake.

This is an unusually powerful earthquake

Earthquakes of this strength are not so common in the region, but it's not the first time. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since October 6th, 2024, when a 5.2 magnitude earthquake hit 10 km (7 mi) further east. An even stronger magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck on January 27th, 2017.

In total, 2 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.1 or higher have been registered within 300km (186 mi) of this epicenter in the past 10 years. This comes down to an average of once every 5 years.

Tsunami very unlikely

While MAG-6.5+ earthquakes may cause tsunami's, it appears that the epicenter of this earthquake hit under land. In addition, the reported depth is deeper than 100km, making the risk of a tsunami even less likely. However always stay cautious and monitor advice from local authorities.

Tsunami Risk Factors

Sources

Last updated 25/01/25 01:08 (). This article is automatically generated based on available data. We keep checking multiple sources for additional information. This article gets updated as new details on this earthquake become available.

1. US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us6000pgct
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20241229_0000205
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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