Reviewed by USGSPeru114y ago
M7.2 earthquake 12 km NNE of Cono Norte, Peru
Thursday, February 26, 1914, 04:58:15 UTC · 16.208°S, 71.555°W
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck 12 km NNE of Cono Norte, Peru on Thursday, February 26, 1914, 04:58:15 UTC, at a depth of 100.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.7 on August 6, 1913.
- Magnitude
- 7.2
- Major · mB
- Depth
- 100 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
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
256 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Nazca and Altiplano plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: intermediate
100 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 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 3 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 28 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 26,589 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1868M8.5
Arica
13 Aug 1868 · 272 km away · intensity XI
25,000 deaths$300 million damagetsunami
- 1833M7.7
Peru: Tacna; Chile: Arica
18 Sep 1833 · 234 km away · intensity VIII
700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1784M8.0
Arequipa,Camana,Moquegua,Tambo
13 May 1784 · 58 km away · intensity X
383 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1821
Camana, Ocona, Caraveli
10 Jul 1821 · 151 km away · intensity VIII
162 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1707M5.8
Cuzco
17 Sep 1707 · 263 km away · intensity X
160 deaths
- 1913M6.3
Amyaraes, Abancay, Casaya, Soraya
4 Nov 1913 · 266 km away · intensity X
150 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.