Reviewed by USGSPeru100y ago
M5.9 earthquake 108 km W of Paracas, Peru
Wednesday, January 18, 1928, 12:22:24 UTC · 14.032°S, 77.258°W
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck 108 km W of Paracas, Peru on Wednesday, January 18, 1928, 12:22:24 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.3 on April 6, 1922.
- Magnitude
- 5.9
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 35 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
12 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 25 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
22 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Nazca and South American plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
35 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 75 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 2 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 21 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 6,008 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1746M8.0
Lima, Callao
29 Oct 1746 · 226 km away · intensity XI
5,941 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1813
Ica
30 Mar 1813 · 201 km away · intensity VII
32 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1828M8.3
Lima, Callao
30 Mar 1828 · 220 km away · intensity VII
30 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1865
Peru
8 Jan 1865 · 227 km away
5 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1860
Lima, Callao
23 Apr 1860 · 216 km away · intensity VI
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1869
Lima
22 Apr 1869 · 216 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.