M6.6 earthquake near Massawa, Northern Red Sea

What happened

A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck 144 km NE of Massawa, Eritrea on 28 Dec 1977, 02:45 UTC at a depth of 33 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Strong. Can cause damage in populated areas up to tens of kilometres away. This was a shallow earthquake, which tends to be felt more strongly at the surface.

The nearest town in our records is Massawa, about 145 km away in Northern Red Sea, Eritrea.