Reviewed by USGSPeru63y ago
M6.6 earthquake 167 km W of Pimentel, Peru
Thursday, August 29, 1963, 15:30:34 UTC · 7.095°S, 81.427°W
A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck 167 km W of Pimentel, Peru on Thursday, August 29, 1963, 15:30:34 UTC, at a depth of 25.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.6 on November 20, 1960.
- Magnitude
- 6.6
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 25 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
120 kilotons of TNT
That is about 8 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 251 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
21 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
25 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 16 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 · 67 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.155 km SW of Santiago de Cao, PeruJune 21, 1937 · 238 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.813 km ESE of Huangala, PeruJuly 24, 1912 · 266 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.3115 km SSW of Sechura, PeruDecember 27, 1925 · 69 km N of this epicenter
- 6.351 km W of Pimentel, PeruMay 5, 1940 · 116 km E of this epicenter
- 6.220 km WNW of Las Lomas, PeruSeptember 25, 1914 · 297 km N of this epicenter
- 6.1252 km SW of Pacasmayo, PeruJuly 14, 1927 · 179 km S of this epicenter
- 6.1138 km SW of Santiago de Cao, PeruNovember 15, 1962 · 240 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 2 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 66 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1960M6.7
Peru
20 Nov 1960 · 87 km away
66 deathsUnder $1 million damagetsunami
- 1912M7.0
Huancabamba,Cajamarca; Ecuador: Guayaquil
24 Jul 1912 · 199 km away · intensity X
Severe damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.