M7.7 earthquake 51 km W of Atocha, Bolivia

Friday, November 29, 1957, 22:19:50 UTC · 20.948°S, 66.713°W

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck 51 km W of Atocha, Bolivia on Friday, November 29, 1957, 22:19:50 UTC, at a depth of 232.5 km (intermediate). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.

Magnitude: 7.7; Major · mw
Depth: 233 km; Intermediate
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: VI; Strong (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

5.4 megatons of TNT

That is about 355 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 11,220 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

61 km

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

Depth: intermediate

233 km

Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.

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 5 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 9 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 7 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1953M7.4
Northern
7 Dec 1953 · 242 km away
3 deaths$7 million damage
1948
Sucre
28 Mar 1948 · 281 km away
3 deaths$14 million damage
1950M8.0
Chile-Argentina
9 Dec 1950 · 295 km away · intensity VII
1 death
1957M7.8
S
29 Nov 1957 · 74 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
1884
Tarabuco
26 Nov 1884 · 281 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
1916M7.5
Bolivia-Northern Chile
25 Aug 1916 · 134 km away

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

Nearby trackers