Reviewed by USGSArgentina97y ago
M6.1 earthquake 7 km ESE of El Carril, Argentina
Wednesday, December 24, 1930, 06:02:46 UTC · 25.102°S, 65.419°W
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck 7 km ESE of El Carril, Argentina on Wednesday, December 24, 1930, 06:02:46 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 6.1
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 15 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
23 kilotons of TNT
That is about 2 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 48 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
401 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Altiplano and South American plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
15 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 5 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 31 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1930M6.1
La Poma
24 Dec 1930 · 0 km away · intensity VIII
31 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1844M6.5
Salta, Jujuy, Tucuman
19 Oct 1844 · 60 km away · intensity VII
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1863
Jujuy
14 Jan 1863 · 172 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1871
Salta
9 Oct 1871 · 250 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1874
Oran
6 Jul 1874 · 264 km away · intensity VII
Limited damage (under $1M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.