Shallow M5.1 Earthquake struck on Thursday Morning 159km from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.

Written by Earthquakelist.org on January 2nd, 2025. Last updated January 5th, 2025.

A shallow and significant MAG-5.1 earthquake struck under land 159 kilometer from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia in the morning of Thursday January 2nd, 2025.

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Earthquake Summary

The earthquake struck on land in Ethiopia, 159 kilometer (99 mi) east-northeast of Addis Ababa. 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:	Jan 2, 2025 10:41AM (Addis Ababa Time) - Jan 2, 2025 07:41 Universal Time.
Location:	159 km ENE of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Coordinates 9°18'56"N 40°9'38"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.1 Detected by 59 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.074 .
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.

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 53 kilometer (33 mi) north-northeast of Metahāra.

Major cities near this earthquake: Addis Ababa is located 159 km to the west-southwest. Nazrēt is located 130 km to the southwest. Dire Dawa is located 190 km to the east.

A complete list of nearby places is included below.

Overview of nearby places

Shaking reported by 24 people

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 24 people have reported shaking in 3 places, all within 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: 22 people.
• Fichē, Oromia, Ethiopia: 1 person.
• Sebeta, Oromia, Ethiopia: 1 person.

10 Aftershocks detected

After this earthquake struck, 10 smaller aftershocks occurred. Just 19 hrs after this main shock, an earthquake measuring MAG-5 was detected 24 km (15 mi) south of this earthquake.

Before this earthquake struck, 42 smaller foreshocks occurred. Roughly 8 hrs before this earthquake, a foreshock measuring MAG-5.5 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 8 km (5 mi) further south-southeast. 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 05/01/25 04:08 (). 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 us6000ph1c
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20250102_0000089
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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