Reviewed by USGSColombia121y ago
M6.5 earthquake 37 km SSW of La Tola, Colombia
Wednesday, June 5, 1907, 03:21:52 UTC · 2.094°N, 78.328°W
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 37 km SSW of La Tola, Colombia on Wednesday, June 5, 1907, 03:21:52 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.6 on June 1, 1907.
- Magnitude
- 6.5
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 35 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
76 kilotons of TNT
That is about 5 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 160 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
120 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Nazca and North Andes plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
35 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.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 100 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 2 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 16 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 71,250 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1868M7.7
Guayaquil,Ibarra; Colombia: San Pablo
16 Aug 1868 · 199 km away · intensity X
70,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1906M8.8
Off Coast
31 Jan 1906 · 172 km away · intensity IX
1,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1827M7.0
Bogota, Neiva, Popayan, Pasto, Huila
16 Nov 1827 · 217 km away · intensity XI
250 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1868M8.0
El Angel, Concepcion
15 Aug 1868 · 158 km away · intensity VIII
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1755M7.0
Pichincha, Quito
26 Apr 1755 · 256 km away · intensity IX
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1834M6.7
Putumayo,Pasto, Popayan, Santa Marta
20 Jan 1834 · 191 km away · intensity IX
Severe damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.