Reviewed by USGSCosta Rica123y ago
M6.7 earthquake 18 km WSW of Nicoya, Costa Rica
Friday, January 20, 1905, 18:00:31 UTC · 10.082°N, 85.608°W
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck 18 km WSW of Nicoya, Costa Rica on Friday, January 20, 1905, 18:00:31 UTC, at a depth of 20.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.3 on December 20, 1904.
- Magnitude
- 6.7
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 20 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
194 kilotons of TNT
That is about 13 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 407 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
38 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Sunda and Burma plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
20 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 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 16 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1885
Leon,Chinandega,Managua
12 Oct 1885 · 279 km away · intensity IX
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1888
San Jose, Ala Juela, Heredia
30 Dec 1888 · 166 km away · intensity VIII
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1898M7.9
Leon, Chinandega, Managua
29 Apr 1898 · 218 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1822M7.6
Matina
7 May 1822 · 293 km away · intensity VII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1844M7.4
Rivas, Greytown
May 1844 · 152 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1882M5.8
Alajuela, San Jose, Heredia
3 Mar 1882 · 184 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.