Reviewed by USGSPeru111y ago
M6.9 earthquake 13 km SSW of San Juan, Peru
Tuesday, October 3, 1916, 01:26:32 UTC · 14.769°S, 74.265°W
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck 13 km SSW of San Juan, Peru on Tuesday, October 3, 1916, 01:26:32 UTC, at a depth of 70.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.7 on August 6, 1913.
- Magnitude
- 6.9
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 70 km
- Intermediate
- 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
315 kilotons of TNT
That is about 21 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 661 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
74 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Altiplano and South American plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: intermediate
70 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 16 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 538 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1821
Camana, Ocona, Caraveli
10 Jul 1821 · 204 km away · intensity VIII
162 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1707M5.8
Cuzco
17 Sep 1707 · 252 km away · intensity X
160 deaths
- 1913M6.3
Amyaraes, Abancay, Casaya, Soraya
4 Nov 1913 · 160 km away · intensity X
150 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1914
Pararca,Paysa,Colta,Oyala
2 Dec 1914 · 124 km away · intensity X
34 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1813
Ica
30 Mar 1813 · 143 km away · intensity VII
32 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1913M7.9
Caraveli, Chuquibamba, Ocona, Atico
6 Aug 1913 · 250 km away · intensity X
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.