The Northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge Earthquake of 13 February 2015 - Magnitude 7.1

The February 13, 2015 M 7.1 Northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge earthquake occurred as the result of right-lateral strike-slip faulting on or near a transform fault forming part of the North America:Eurasia plate boundary. At the latitude of this earthquake, the North America plate moves approximately westward at the rate of 21 mm/yr with respect to Eurasia.

Moderate-to-large earthquakes in this region of the north Atlantic are not uncommon-over the past century, five other earthquakes of M 6.3-7.0 have occurred within 250 km of the February 13, 2015 event, likely along the same fracture zone. The largest of these was a M 7.0 event on the same day in 1967, 48 years before today's M 7.1 earthquake.