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Moderate mag. 4.8 earthquake - 64 km southeast of Choma, Southern Province, Zambia, on Monday, Aug 9, 2021 at 3:39 am (GMT +2)

Moderate magnitude 4.8 earthquake at 10 km depth

9 Aug 01:49 UTC: First to report: CGS after 10 minutes.
9 Aug 01:56: Epicenter location corrected by 0.9 km (0.6 mi) towards S.
9 Aug 03:35: Epicenter location corrected by 2.8 km (1.7 mi) towards NE.

Update Mon, 9 Aug 2021, 01:54

Magnitude 4.8 earthquake strikes near Choma, Choma District, Southern Province, Zambia

4.8 quake 2021-08-09 03:39:33 SAST (GMT+02:00)

An earthquake of magnitude 4.8 occurred only 14 minutes ago 63 km southeast of Choma, Zambia, South Africa's Council for Geoscience (CGS) reported.
The quake hit at a shallow depth of 10 km beneath the epicenter near Choma, Choma District, Southern Province, Zambia, early morning on Monday 9 August 2021 at 3:39 am local time. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake was probably felt by many people in the area of the epicenter. It should not have caused significant damage, other than objects falling from shelves, broken windows, etc.
In Sinasongwe (pop. 11,500) located 12 km from the epicenter, the quake should have been felt as light shaking.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Maamba (pop. 12,300) located 40 km from the epicenter, Binga (pop. 4,300) 53 km away, and Choma (pop. 46,700) 63 km away.
Other towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Monze (pop. 30,300) located 97 km from the epicenter.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you're in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.

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Earthquake details

Date & time	Aug 9, 2021 01:39:33 UTC
Local time at epicenter	Monday, Aug 9, 2021 at 3:39 am (GMT +2)
Status	Confirmed
Magnitude	4.8
Depth	10.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude	17.147°S / 27.473°E (Southern Province, Zambia)
Antipode	17.147°N / 152.527°W
Shaking intensity	Weak shaking
Felt	1 report
Primary data source	CGS (Council for Geoscience, South African National Seismograph Network)
Nearest volcano	###NEARESTVOLCANO2###
Nearby towns and cities	13 km (8 mi) N of Sinasongwe (Southern) (pop: 11,500) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 42 km (26 mi) NE of Maamba (Southern) (pop: 12,300) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 54 km (34 mi) NNE of Binga (Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe) (pop: 4,330) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 64 km (40 mi) SE of Choma (Southern) (pop: 46,700) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 96 km (60 mi) S of Monze (Southern) (pop: 30,300) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 147 km (91 mi) S of Mazabuka (pop: 64,000) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 188 km (117 mi) ENE of libingseuteon (Southern) (pop: 109,200) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 212 km (132 mi) SSW of Lusaka (pop: 1,267,400) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 318 km (198 mi) SSW of Broken Hill (Central) (pop: 189,000) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 387 km (241 mi) W of Harare (Zimbabwe) (pop: 1,542,800) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby
Weather at epicenter at time of quake	Clear Sky 16.1°C (61 F), humidity: 48%, wind: 2 m/s (3 kts) from WNW
Estimated seismic energy released	1 x 10¹² joules (278 megawatt hours, equivalent to 239 tons of TNT) \| about seismic energy

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Data for the same earthquake reported by different agencies

Info: The more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.

Mag.	Depth	Location	Source
4.8	10 km	Zambia: South Africa Region	CGS

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Seismograms

Seismic station: Sowa (SOOWA/BX network) | Distance from quake: 402 km / 250 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Sowa: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismogram (vertical component) around time of quake. Thin dotted red line indicates time of quake. Seismic waves arrive some time later, depending on distance. Bandpass filter applied: 0.2-10.0 Hz. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

User reports for this quake (1)

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.

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Translate

Livingstone Zambia / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : I felt good coz it wad my first time experience such a thing in my life.I shouted hallelujah

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