Reviewed by USGSColombia108y ago
M6.3 earthquake 47 km NNE of Timbiquí, Colombia
Friday, January 30, 1920, 18:26:47 UTC · 3.156°N, 77.469°W
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 47 km NNE of Timbiquí, Colombia on Friday, January 30, 1920, 18:26:47 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.5 on April 20, 1914.
- Magnitude
- 6.3
- Strong · 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
51 kilotons of TNT
That is about 3 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 106 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
131 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Nazca and North Andes plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
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 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 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 12 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 1,250 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1845M4.0
Magdalena River
19 Feb 1845 · 274 km away
1,000 deaths
- 1827M7.0
Bogota, Neiva, Popayan, Pasto, Huila
16 Nov 1827 · 192 km away · intensity XI
250 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1868M8.0
El Angel, Concepcion
15 Aug 1868 · 262 km away · intensity VIII
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1834M6.7
Putumayo,Pasto, Popayan, Santa Marta
20 Jan 1834 · 236 km away · intensity IX
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1735M4.5
Popayan
2 Feb 1735 · 124 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1751
Popayan
25 Apr 1751 · 130 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.