Moderate magnitude 4.8 quake hits 7 km west of Metehara, Ethiopia in the afternoon

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake near Metehara, Oromiya, Ethiopia, was reported only 22 minutes ago by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), considered one of the key international agencies that monitor seismic activity worldwide. The earthquake occurred at a shallow depth of 10 km beneath the epicenter in the afternoon on Tuesday, January 14th, 2025, at 5:55 pm 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.
Our monitoring service identified a second report from the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake which listed the quake at magnitude 5.1. A third agency, the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), reported the same quake at magnitude 5.1.
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 Metehara (pop. 23,400) located 7 km from the epicenter, the quake should have been felt as light shaking.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Āwash (pop. 36,500) located 35 km from the epicenter, Gelemso (pop. 16,100) 73 km away, Nazrēt (pop. 214,000) 76 km away, Mojo (pop. 34,500) 89 km away, and Debre Birhan (pop. 57,800) 93 km away.
Other towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Bishoftu (pop. 197,600) located 98 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.


Earthquake data:
Date & time: Jan 14, 2025 05:55 pm (Addis Ababa time) local time (14 Jan 2025 14:55 GMT)
Magnitude: 4.8
Depth: 10.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 8.91°N / 39.86°E (Harari, Ethiopia)
Primary data source: EMSC
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