What Does a 6.0 Earthquake Feel Like?
A magnitude 6.0 is a strong earthquake. Near its epicenter it can be frightening and destructive, while a few hundred kilometers away it may feel like a gentle sway that some people never notice. The magnitude is a single number, but the experience depends heavily on where you are.
Instead of describing one person's experience, this article uses the Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) scale, which scientists use to summarize what people typically report and what happens to buildings at different levels of shaking.
Quick answer
Close to the epicenter of a shallow 6.0, shaking is typically strong to very strong: it is hard to stand, furniture moves, objects fly off shelves and weaker buildings can be damaged. Strong shaking usually lasts several seconds to around 10 to 20 seconds. Farther away, it feels like a rolling or swaying motion, and at large distances only some people notice it. Depth, soil and building type change the experience a lot.
Magnitude is the size, intensity is the feeling
Magnitude describes how much energy an earthquake releases at its source. A 6.0 releases roughly 32 times more energy than a 5.0 and about 1,000 times more than a 4.0. Intensity describes how strongly the ground shakes at a particular place, and it changes from town to town.
So the honest answer to what a 6.0 feels like is: it depends on your distance, the Depth of the earthquake and the ground you are standing on. For more on the difference, see our article on magnitude vs. intensity.
Typical shaking at different distances
The table below gives a rough picture for a shallow 6.0 on land. Real earthquakes vary, so treat the distances as broad ranges rather than exact cutoffs. The descriptions summarize the standard MMI wording used by the U.S. Geological Survey.
| Approximate distance | Typical MMI | What people typically report |
|---|---|---|
| Near the epicenter | VII to VIII | Difficult to stand; heavy furniture moves or overturns; damage to poorly built and some ordinary buildings; chimneys and walls may fall |
| Roughly 10 to 30 km | VI to VII | Felt by all, many frightened; objects fall from shelves; plaster cracks; considerable damage only in weak buildings |
| Roughly 30 to 100 km | IV to V | Felt by most people; windows and dishes rattle; hanging objects swing; unstable items may tip over |
| Beyond about 100 km | II to IV | Felt by some, especially on upper floors or at rest; slow swaying; often described as a passing truck or a dizzy feeling |
How the shaking unfolds
People close to a 6.0 often describe a sudden jolt followed by stronger, rougher shaking. This matches how seismic waves travel. The faster P waves arrive first and can feel like a bump or bang. The slower S waves and surface waves arrive next and carry most of the damaging side-to-side and rolling motion.
The farther you are from the source, the bigger the gap between those arrivals and the more the motion stretches into a slow, rolling sway. People in tall buildings far from the epicenter may notice long, gentle swaying even when those on the ground floor feel little.
How long does a 6.0 shake?
The fault rupture in a 6.0 typically lasts only a handful of seconds, because the slipping section of Fault is roughly 10 to 20 km long. At any one location, though, strong shaking can feel longer, often in the range of several seconds up to around 20 seconds, because waves arrive from different parts of the rupture and soft ground can keep vibrating.
That may not sound long, but during strong shaking it can feel like much more. It is enough time to Drop, Cover and Hold On, which is the recommended action as soon as shaking starts.
What changes the experience
Two earthquakes of the same magnitude can feel very different. These are the most important reasons:
- Depth: a 6.0 at 10 km depth shakes the surface much harder than a 6.0 at 100 km or deeper, though the deep one may be felt over a wider area.
- Ground: soft soils, river valleys and filled land can amplify shaking compared with nearby solid rock, and saturated sandy soils can lose strength through Liquefaction.
- Building: upper floors sway more, and people inside a building often notice shaking more than people outdoors or in moving cars.
- Direction of rupture: shaking can be stronger in the direction the rupture travels.
A real example: the 2014 South Napa earthquake
On August 24, 2014, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck near Napa, California, in the early morning. In and around Napa, shaking was strong enough to damage older brick buildings, homes and wineries, and to send many people to hospitals with injuries. Farther away in the San Francisco Bay Area, most people felt only moderate or light shaking, and many in distant cities slept through it.
This is a typical pattern: a 6.0 causes serious damage in a fairly limited zone, mostly in older or weaker structures, and much less beyond it. You can look up this and other past events on the EQRadar history page, and see estimated shaking patterns for significant earthquakes on the shaking page.
Frequently asked questions
Can you sleep through a 6.0 earthquake?
Near the epicenter, almost no one sleeps through a 6.0. Far away, where shaking is weak, some people do. Felt reports drop off quickly with distance.
Is a 6.0 earthquake destructive?
It can be. A shallow 6.0 under a populated area can cause considerable damage, especially to older and poorly built structures. A deep or remote 6.0 may cause little or none.
How often do 6.0 earthquakes happen?
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates roughly 134 earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 to 6.9 worldwide in a typical year, so a few per week on average. Most are under the ocean or in sparsely populated regions.
Will my phone warn me before a 6.0?
In some regions, earthquake early warning systems can send alerts seconds before strong shaking arrives, but not everywhere and not always in time near the epicenter. See our article on the earthquake early warning system.
Key takeaway
A 6.0 feels violent and can be destructive near the epicenter, strong a few tens of kilometers away and like a gentle sway far away. Depth, ground conditions and building type shape what you feel as much as the magnitude does.
Sources
- The Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale — U.S. Geological Survey
- Earthquake Magnitude, Energy Release, and Shaking Intensity — U.S. Geological Survey
- Earthquake Hazards Program — U.S. Geological Survey