Reviewed by USGSPeru90y ago
M7.1 earthquake 55 km SW of Santiago de Cao, Peru
Monday, June 21, 1937, 15:13:05 UTC · 8.276°S, 79.628°W
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck 55 km SW of Santiago de Cao, Peru on Monday, June 21, 1937, 15:13:05 UTC, at a depth of 30.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 7.1
- Major · mw
- Depth
- 30 km
- Shallow
- 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
697 kilotons of TNT
That is about 46 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1,462 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
160 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Nazca and South American plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
30 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 8 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.115 km SSW of Huabal, PeruJuly 18, 1928 · 292 km N of this epicenter
- 6.3274 km WSW of Puerto Casma, PeruNovember 17, 1925 · 278 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.3115 km SSW of Sechura, PeruDecember 27, 1925 · 269 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.3102 km SW of Huarmey, PeruSeptember 29, 1916 · 272 km S of this epicenter
- 6.1252 km SW of Pacasmayo, PeruJuly 14, 1927 · 206 km W of this epicenter
- 6.1123 km WSW of Puerto Casma, PeruApril 3, 1931 · 181 km S of this epicenter
- 6.0164 km SW of Pacasmayo, PeruSeptember 21, 1931 · 126 km W of this epicenter
- 5.958 km WSW of Puerto Santa, PeruNovember 21, 1927 · 113 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 1 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 1,500 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1725M7.7
Trujillo, Ancash, Lima
7 Jan 1725 · 106 km away · intensity IX
1,500 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.