Reviewed by USGSPanama124y ago
M7.2 earthquake 45 km SW of Quebrada de Piedra, Panama
Wednesday, January 20, 1904, 14:51:36 UTC · 7.808°N, 81.980°W
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck 45 km SW of Quebrada de Piedra, Panama on Wednesday, January 20, 1904, 14:51:36 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 7.2
- Major · 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
951 kilotons of TNT
That is about 63 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1,995 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
73 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Nazca and Panama plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
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 200 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 200 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists no earlier M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km.
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 8 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1854M7.3
Costa Rica-Panama
5 Aug 1854 · 136 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1822M7.6
Matina
7 May 1822 · 219 km away · intensity VII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1882M5.8
Alajuela, San Jose, Heredia
3 Mar 1882 · 288 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1746
Matina
1746 · 285 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1854M7.2
Costa Rica-Panama
7 Aug 1854 · 136 km away
tsunami
- 1904M7.2
Bocas Del Toro
20 Dec 1904 · 179 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.