Reviewed by USGSCosta Rica118y ago
M6.1 earthquake 1 km WNW of Orosí, Costa Rica
Thursday, May 5, 1910, 00:27:38 UTC · 9.801°N, 83.870°W
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck 1 km WNW of Orosí, Costa Rica on Thursday, May 5, 1910, 00:27:38 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.7 on January 20, 1905.
- Magnitude
- 6.1
- Strong · 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
24 kilotons of TNT
That is about 2 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 50 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
57 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Panama and Caribbean 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 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 4 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 700 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1910M6.4
Cartago, San Jose
4 May 1910 · 26 km away
700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1854M7.3
Costa Rica-Panama
5 Aug 1854 · 173 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1888
San Jose, Ala Juela, Heredia
30 Dec 1888 · 30 km away · intensity VIII
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1822M7.6
Matina
7 May 1822 · 101 km away · intensity VII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1844M7.4
Rivas, Greytown
May 1844 · 186 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1882M5.8
Alajuela, San Jose, Heredia
3 Mar 1882 · 75 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.