Reviewed by USGSPeru96y ago
M6.1 earthquake 11 km WNW of Sayán, Peru
Wednesday, January 20, 1932, 02:30:55 UTC · 11.080°S, 77.285°W
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck 11 km WNW of Sayán, Peru on Wednesday, January 20, 1932, 02:30:55 UTC, at a depth of 65.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.3 on September 29, 1916.
- Magnitude
- 6.1
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 65 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
24 kilotons of TNT
That is about 2 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 50 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
220 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
65 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 3 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 17 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 7,476 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1746M8.0
Lima, Callao
29 Oct 1746 · 102 km away · intensity XI
5,941 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1725M7.7
Trujillo, Ancash, Lima
7 Jan 1725 · 298 km away · intensity IX
1,500 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1828M8.3
Lima, Callao
30 Mar 1828 · 130 km away · intensity VII
30 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1865
Peru
8 Jan 1865 · 104 km away
5 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1860
Lima, Callao
23 Apr 1860 · 115 km away · intensity VI
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1869
Lima
22 Apr 1869 · 115 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.