Reported by EMSC8d ago
M4.0 earthquake in Off Coast of Northern Peru
Friday, September 18, 2026, 19:32:50 UTC · 7.110°S, 80.770°W
A magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck in Off Coast of Northern Peru on Friday, September 18, 2026, 19:32:50 UTC, at a depth of 38.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.0
- Light · m
- Depth
- 38 km
- Shallow
- Reported by
- EMSC
- Agency LIM
- Nearest tracker
- 109 km
- from Chiclayo
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
15 tons of TNT
That is about 1/998 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 32 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
89 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Nazca and South American plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
38 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 50 km
USGS and EMSC have not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km since this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 141 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.6103 km WSW of Mórrope, PeruNovember 20, 1960 · 41 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.323 km N of Bellavista, PeruMay 14, 1928 · 298 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.155 km SW of Santiago de Cao, PeruJune 21, 1937 · 181 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.115 km SSW of Huabal, PeruJuly 18, 1928 · 250 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.813 km ESE of Huangala, PeruJuly 24, 1912 · 248 km N of this epicenter
- 6.6167 km W of Pimentel, PeruAugust 29, 1963 · 73 km W of this epicenter
- 6.361 km WSW of Pimentel, PeruJuly 30, 1968 · 36 km E of this epicenter
- 6.3115 km SSW of Sechura, PeruDecember 27, 1925 · 88 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 8 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 1,596 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1725M7.7
Trujillo, Ancash, Lima
7 Jan 1725 · 287 km away · intensity IX
1,500 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1960M6.7
Peru
20 Nov 1960 · 35 km away
66 deathsUnder $1 million damagetsunami
- 1928M7.3
Chacahpoyas,Huancabamba,Cajamarca,Pinpincos
14 May 1928 · 298 km away · intensity X
29 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 2022M5.8
Piura
5 Oct 2022 · 251 km away · intensity VIII
1 deathLimited damage (under $1M)
- 1912M7.0
Huancabamba,Cajamarca; Ecuador: Guayaquil
24 Jul 1912 · 170 km away · intensity X
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 2021M6.2
Piura
30 Jul 2021 · 243 km away · intensity VII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.