Reviewed by USGSPeru64y ago
M6.1 earthquake 138 km SW of Santiago de Cao, Peru
Thursday, November 15, 1962, 23:25:16 UTC · 8.835°S, 80.135°W
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck 138 km SW of Santiago de Cao, Peru on Thursday, November 15, 1962, 23:25:16 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.4 on April 18, 1962.
- Magnitude
- 6.1
- 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
21 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 45 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
84 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
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 13 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 · 245 km N of this epicenter
- 7.155 km SW of Santiago de Cao, PeruJune 21, 1937 · 83 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.86 km SSW of Quiches, PeruNovember 10, 1946 · 291 km E of this epicenter
- 6.480 km SW of Puerto Casma, PeruApril 18, 1962 · 180 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.3274 km WSW of Puerto Casma, PeruNovember 17, 1925 · 201 km S of this epicenter
- 6.3115 km SSW of Sechura, PeruDecember 27, 1925 · 289 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.351 km W of Pimentel, PeruMay 5, 1940 · 218 km N of this epicenter
- 6.3102 km SW of Huarmey, PeruSeptember 29, 1916 · 239 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 4 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 2,370 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1725M7.7
Trujillo, Ancash, Lima
7 Jan 1725 · 126 km away · intensity IX
1,500 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1946M7.3
Jocaibamba,Cerro Angaschaj,Cerro Sillapata
10 Nov 1946 · 292 km away · intensity XI
800 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1960M6.7
Peru
20 Nov 1960 · 235 km away
66 deathsUnder $1 million damagetsunami
- 1962M6.4
Casma,Huaraz,Quiruvilca,Trujillo
18 Apr 1962 · 180 km away
4 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.