M7.3 earthquake 92 km SW of San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

Monday, December 30, 1907, 05:26:55 UTC · 10.679°N, 86.490°W

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck 92 km SW of San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua on Monday, December 30, 1907, 05:26:55 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.

Magnitude: 7.3; Major · 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

1.3 megatons of TNT

That is about 86 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 2,723 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

39 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Panama and Caribbean plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

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 200 km

USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 200 km in the 30 days after this event.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 6 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 12 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

1885
Leon,Chinandega,Managua
12 Oct 1885 · 183 km away · intensity IX
Severe damage ($5–24M)
1888
San Jose, Ala Juela, Heredia
30 Dec 1888 · 274 km away · intensity VIII
Severe damage ($5–24M)
1898M7.9
Leon, Chinandega, Managua
29 Apr 1898 · 156 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
1844M7.4
Rivas, Greytown
May 1844 · 193 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1841
Cartago; Nicaragua
2 Sep 1841 · 283 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
1844
San Juan Del Norte(Greytown)
Aug 1844 · 274 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

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