Reviewed by USGSColombia92y ago
M6.3 earthquake 84 km WNW of Mosquera, Colombia
Tuesday, December 24, 1935, 12:24:12 UTC · 2.728°N, 79.180°W
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 84 km WNW of Mosquera, Colombia on Tuesday, December 24, 1935, 12:24:12 UTC, at a depth of 25.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.3 on January 30, 1920.
- Magnitude
- 6.3
- 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
44 kilotons of TNT
That is about 3 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 92 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
2 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Nazca and North Andes 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 14 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.81906 Ecuador-Colombia EarthquakeJanuary 31, 1906 · 198 km S of this epicenter
- 6.813 km N of Muisne, EcuadorJune 30, 1916 · 240 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.667 km NNW of Esmeraldas, EcuadorJune 1, 1907 · 162 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.5148 km W of Pizarro, ColombiaApril 20, 1914 · 228 km N of this epicenter
- 6.537 km SSW of La Tola, ColombiaJune 5, 1907 · 118 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.347 km NNE of Timbiquí, ColombiaJanuary 30, 1920 · 196 km E of this epicenter
- 6.328 km WNW of El Ángel, EcuadorDecember 14, 1923 · 252 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.1167 km WNW of Mosquera, ColombiaOctober 18, 1924 · 82 km W of this epicenter
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, which together caused about 71,308 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1868M7.7
Guayaquil,Ibarra; Colombia: San Pablo
16 Aug 1868 · 291 km away · intensity X
70,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1906M8.8
Off Coast
31 Jan 1906 · 198 km away · intensity IX
1,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1923M6.2
Ipiales
14 Dec 1923 · 259 km away · intensity IX
300 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1935M6.1
Funes
7 Aug 1935 · 272 km away · intensity VIII
8 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1868M8.0
El Angel, Concepcion
15 Aug 1868 · 268 km away · intensity VIII
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1735M4.5
Popayan
2 Feb 1735 · 298 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.