Reviewed by USGSColombia47y ago
M4.3 earthquake 50 km NW of Salahonda, Colombia
Thursday, February 21, 1980, 10:42:57 UTC · 2.410°N, 78.923°W
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck 50 km NW of Salahonda, Colombia on Thursday, February 21, 1980, 10:42:57 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.3
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 33 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
43 tons of TNT
That is about 1/354 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 11 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
47 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Nazca and North Andes plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
33 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 50 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 69 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.81906 Ecuador-Colombia EarthquakeJanuary 31, 1906 · 169 km S of this epicenter
- 7.812 km SE of Pedernales, EcuadorMay 14, 1942 · 294 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.756 km NW of Valdez, EcuadorDecember 12, 1979 · 102 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.6near the coast of EcuadorJanuary 19, 1958 · 168 km S of this epicenter
- 6.951 km NW of Valdez, EcuadorFebruary 1, 1958 · 107 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.824 km NNE of Esmeraldas, EcuadorJanuary 19, 1958 · 156 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.830 km SE of Esmeraldas, EcuadorApril 14, 1958 · 188 km S of this epicenter
- 6.813 km N of Muisne, EcuadorJune 30, 1916 · 222 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 24 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 72,536 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1868M7.7
Guayaquil,Ibarra; Colombia: San Pablo
16 Aug 1868 · 248 km away · intensity X
70,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1906M8.8
Off Coast
31 Jan 1906 · 169 km away · intensity IX
1,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1979M8.1
Off Shore, Pacific Ocean
12 Dec 1979 · 103 km away · intensity IX
600 deaths$8 million damagetsunami
- 1923M6.2
Ipiales
14 Dec 1923 · 213 km away · intensity IX
300 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1827M7.0
Bogota, Neiva, Popayan, Pasto, Huila
16 Nov 1827 · 288 km away · intensity XI
250 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1936M5.6
Colombia
9 Jan 1936 · 207 km away · intensity VII
250 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.