M6.5 earthquake 132 km WSW of Moijabana, Botswana
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 132 km WSW of Moijabana, Botswana on Mon, Apr 3, 2017, 7:40 PM GMT+2 (17:40 UTC), 29 km (18 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 6.5 (mww), strong
- Local time
- UTC
- 2017-04-03 17:40:18 UTC
- Depth
- 29.0 km (18.0 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 22.678° S, 25.156° E
- Region
- Botswana
- Felt reports
- 937
- Strongest shaking
- VIII, severe shaking
- PAGER alert
- Green
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Shaking
The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.
- Strongest estimated
- VIII, severe shaking
- Peak ground acceleration
- 57.6% of gravity
- Peak ground velocity
- 3.5 cm/s
- Map
- Automatic
Did you feel it?
937 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was VII, very strong shaking.
Estimated impact
The USGS PAGER system estimates deaths and economic losses from the shaking and the population and buildings exposed to it.
- Alert level
- Green: little or no damage or loss of life expected
| Range | Chance |
|---|---|
| Under 1 | 65% |
| 1 to 10 | 30% |
| 10 to 100 | 4% |
| 100 to 1,000 | Under 1% |
| 1,000 to 10,000 | Under 1% |
| 10,000 to 100,000 | Under 1% |
| 100,000 to 10,000,000 | Under 1% |
| Range, million USD | Chance |
|---|---|
| Under 1 | 71% |
| 1 to 10 | 26% |
| 10 to 100 | 3% |
| 100 to 1,000 | Under 1% |
| 1,000 to 10,000 | Under 1% |
| 10,000 to 100,000 | Under 1% |
| 100,000 to 10,000,000 | Under 1% |
Fault motion and ground failure
How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.
- Faulting
- Normal
- Moment magnitude
- 6.5 Mww
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 343°, dip 44°, rake -62°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 126°, dip 53°, rake -114°
- Landslide alert
- Green
- Liquefaction alert
- Orange
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 7.5 km horizontally, 1.8 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.05
- Depth from
- From modeling of broad-band P waveforms
- Station coverage gap
- 15°
- Stations used
- 655
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.5 and up: 7 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.092 km SSW of Letlhakane, Botswana · 3459 days ago · 10 km deep · 60 km away
- 4.7129 km W of Moijabana, Botswana · 3459 days ago · 16 km deep · 11 km away · felt by 5
- 4.6136 km W of Moijabana, Botswana · 3459 days ago · 15 km deep · 14 km away · felt by 2
- 4.0Botswana · 3459 days ago · 16 km deep · 12 km away
- 5.0137 km SSW of Letlhakane, Botswana · 3458 days ago · 10 km deep · 15 km away · felt by 13
- 4.5124 km NNE of Khudumelapye, Botswana · 3457 days ago · 10 km deep · 19 km away
- 4.7137 km SSW of Letlhakane, Botswana · 3454 days ago · 14 km deep · 15 km away · felt by 2
Earthquakes todayBotswana earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us10008e3k (also filed as iscgem610478084). Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 7:50 PM UTC.