QuakeScout
Magnitude6.0

Reviewed by USGSPeru101y ago

M6.0 earthquake 193 km WSW of Paita, Peru

Thursday, July 1, 1926, 20:29:36 UTC · 5.922°S, 82.655°W

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck 193 km WSW of Paita, Peru on Thursday, July 1, 1926, 20:29:36 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.3 on December 27, 1925.

Magnitude
6.0
Moderate · 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

13 kilotons of TNT

That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 27 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

77 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

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 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 3 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 6.813 km ESE of Huangala, PeruJuly 24, 1912 · 265 km NE of this epicenter
  2. 6.3115 km SSW of Sechura, PeruDecember 27, 1925 · 165 km SE of this epicenter
  3. 6.220 km WNW of Las Lomas, PeruSeptember 25, 1914 · 287 km NE 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:

  1. 1912M7.0

    Huancabamba,Cajamarca; Ecuador: Guayaquil

    24 Jul 1912 · 250 km away · intensity X

    Severe damage ($5–24M)

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers

Closest city pages