August 16, 1911 Earthquake: Caroline Islands, Micronesia

Name: August 16, 1911 Earthquake: Caroline Islands, Micronesia
Start: 1911-08-16
Location: Caroline Islands, Micronesia

August 16, 1911 · M7.7

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Caroline Islands, Micronesia on August 16, 1911 at 22:41:18 UTC, 17 km below the surface.

Map

Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.

The earthquake

Date: August 16, 1911
Time: 22:41:18 UTC
Place: Caroline Islands, Micronesia
Magnitude: 7.7 (Mw)
Magnitude scales: Mw 7.7 · Ms 7.7
Focal depth: 17 km (11 mi)
Tsunami: None recorded
Epicenter: 7.000° N, 137.000° E
Country: Micronesia
Region: Central and South Pacific
USGS record: The USGS’s page for this earthquake

Mw: moment magnitude, based on the slip on the fault and the area that slipped. Ms: surface-wave magnitude. NCEI’s headline magnitude is the best of these for the earthquake.

The toll

The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this earthquake.

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

1911, August 16, 22:41.3 UTC. 7 N, 137 E, magnitude 7.9, depth 17 km. (reference #130)

1911, August 16, 22:41:18 UTC. 7 N, 137 E, magnitude 7.9, shallow depth. (reference #88)

1911, August 16. Magnitude 8.1, on Palau Island. (reference #1002)

1911, August 16, 22:41:18 UTC, 7 N, 137 E, 7.7 Mw P&S, 7.7 Ms AN2, 7.6 mB ABE1, 7.9 UK G&R, 8.1 UK PAS. (reference #9910)

Sources NCEI cites

The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.

#130 Gutenberg, B. and C.F. Richter (1965). Seismicity of the earth and associated phenomena. Princeton University Press, 1954 (second edition); Hafner Publishing Company, New York and London (facsimile edition), 310 p.
#1002 Lomnitz, Cinna (1974). Development in Geotectonics #5, Global Tectonics and Earthquake Risk, Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1974.
#88 Duda, Seweryn J. (1965). Secular seismic energy release in the circum-Pacific belt. Tectonophysics, vol. 2, no. 5, p. 409-452. DOI:10.1016/0040-1951(65)90035-1
#9910 Engdahl, E.R., R. van der Hilst, R. Buland (2012). Centennial Earthquake Catalog. Retrieved August 11, 2011 from link

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

Significant earthquakes of 1911 The 1900s Every quake the USGS located in 1911 Recent earthquakes near here This day in weather history

Sources

Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 2943. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event iscgem16958156, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.