M5.1 earthquake 5 km E of Camaná, Peru

Saturday, February 17, 1979, 15:41:15 UTC · 16.627°S, 72.659°W

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck 5 km E of Camaná, Peru on Saturday, February 17, 1979, 15:41:15 UTC, at a depth of 79.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.5 on February 16, 1979.

Magnitude: 5.1; Moderate · mb
Depth: 79 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 75 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

674 tons of TNT

That is about 1/22 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

147 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

79 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 75 km

USGS lists 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.2 on February 20, 1979. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 96 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 33 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 26,620 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1868M8.5
Arica
13 Aug 1868 · 281 km away · intensity XI
25,000 deaths$300 million damagetsunami
1833M7.7
Peru: Tacna; Chile: Arica
18 Sep 1833 · 251 km away · intensity VIII
700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1784M8.0
Arequipa,Camana,Moquegua,Tambo
13 May 1784 · 72 km away · intensity X
383 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1821
Camana, Ocona, Caraveli
10 Jul 1821 · 67 km away · intensity VIII
162 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1913M6.3
Amyaraes, Abancay, Casaya, Soraya
4 Nov 1913 · 271 km away · intensity X
150 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1943M5.0
Yanacoa, Pampamarca
31 Jan 1943 · 297 km away
75 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers