Reviewed by USGSArgentina101y ago
M5.7 earthquake 34 km N of San Antonio de los Cobres, Argentina
Wednesday, October 27, 1926, 14:13:50 UTC · 23.910°S, 66.362°W
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck 34 km N of San Antonio de los Cobres, Argentina on Wednesday, October 27, 1926, 14:13:50 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 5.7
- Moderate · 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
5 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/3 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 9 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
266 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Altiplano and South American plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
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 75 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 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 4 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1844M6.5
Salta, Jujuy, Tucuman
19 Oct 1844 · 127 km away · intensity VII
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1863
Jujuy
14 Jan 1863 · 143 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1871
Salta
9 Oct 1871 · 229 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1874
Oran
6 Jul 1874 · 243 km away · intensity VII
Limited damage (under $1M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.