May 14, 2010 Earthquake: Beni Yellman, Northern, Algeria
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck Beni Yellman, Northern, Algeria on May 14, 2010 at 12:29:22 UTC, 2 km below the surface. It killed 2 people.
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
- May 14, 2010
- Time
- 12:29:22 UTC
- Place
- Beni Yellman, Northern, Algeria
- Magnitude
- 5.2 (mb)
- Magnitude scales
- mb 5.2 · ML 5.2
- Focal depth
- 2 km (1 mi)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 35.900° N, 4.120° E
- Country
- Algeria
- Region
- Northern Africa
- USGS record
- The USGS’s page for this earthquake
mb: body-wave (P-wave) magnitude. ML: local magnitude, the original Richter scale. NCEI’s headline magnitude is the best of these for the earthquake.
The toll
- Deaths
- 2
- Injuries
- 43
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
From Wikipedia
The 2010 Beni-Ilmane earthquakes began 14 May at 12:29:22 UTC, when a Mw 5.3 strike-slip earthquake occurred in Northern Algeria. With a maximum EMS-98 intensity of VII (Damaging), it was the first in a sequence of three shocks that affected the Bouïra Province over a ten-day period. Two people were killed, forty-three were injured, and some structural damage was reported.
Text from Wikipedia, “2010 Beni-Ilmane earthquakes”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted as written; the full article has the rest.
What happened
The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.
Two people killed and 43 injured near Beni Yellman. Felt (II) at Algiers. Also felt at Birkhadem, Bordj Bou Arreridj, Bouira, Boumerdas, Bou Saada, Constantine, Mansourah and Tizi Ouzou.
From the USGS event page for usp000hcre. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.
Magnitude estimates
The magnitudes the USGS catalog lists for this earthquake, by scale and by who computed them. NCEI’s own scales are in the table above.
| Mag. | Scale | Computed by | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.3 | Mwc, centroid moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.35 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.3 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Two people killed and 43 injured near Beni Yellman. Felt (II) at Algiers. Also felt at Birkhadem, Bouira, Bordj Bou
Arreridj, Boumerdas, Bou Saada, Constantine, Mansourah
and Tizi Ouzou. (reference #1053)
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #1053 National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) (1971 to 2013). Preliminary Determination of Epicenters (PDE), a weekly and monthly publication, National Earthquake Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Golden, Colorado, 1971 to 2013.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- May 1716, Algiers, Algeria
- March 2, 1825, Blida, Algiers, Algeria
- May 21, 2003, Algiers, Boumerdes, Reghia, Thenia, Algeria
- February 12, 1946, Hodna Mountains, Algeria
- January 2, 1867, El Affroun, Algeria
- February 21, 1960, Melouza, Algeria
- November 16, 1869, Biskra, Algeria
- December 3, 1885, M'Sila, Algeria
- October 29, 1989, Algiers, Cherchell, Tipaza, Algeria
- June 24, 1910, Masqueray, Kabylia, Algeria
- May 27, 2003, Algiers, Boumerdes, Reghaia, Algeria
- August 22, 1856, Northern, Algeria
- August 1, 2014, Algiers, Algeria
- August 21, 1856, Northern, Algeria
- January 1, 1965, M'Sila, Algeria
More
Significant earthquakes of 2010The 2000sEvery quake the USGS located in 2010Recent earthquakes near hereThis 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 9132. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event usp000hcre, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.