Reviewed by USGSPanama100y ago
M5.8 earthquake 214 km SSW of Arenas, Panama
Sunday, August 21, 1927, 10:19:15 UTC · 5.580°N, 81.609°W
A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck 214 km SSW of Arenas, Panama on Sunday, August 21, 1927, 10:19:15 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.7 on August 20, 1927.
- Magnitude
- 5.8
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 10 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
9 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/2 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 19 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
141 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Cocos and Nazca plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
10 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 12 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.245 km SW of Quebrada de Piedra, PanamaJanuary 20, 1904 · 251 km N of this epicenter
- 6.7260 km SSW of Arenas, PanamaAugust 20, 1927 · 50 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.621 km ENE of Pedasí, PanamaOctober 2, 1913 · 296 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.697 km SSE of Burica, PanamaAugust 10, 1927 · 208 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.5208 km S of Cambutal, PanamaDecember 2, 1904 · 121 km E of this epicenter
- 6.3192 km S of Burica, PanamaSeptember 24, 1920 · 136 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.275 km SSE of Pedasí, PanamaJune 30, 1917 · 239 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.1136 km S of Burica, PanamaMarch 9, 1927 · 185 km NW 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. The most severe:
- 1913M6.7
Azuero Peninsula
2 Oct 1913 · 202 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.