Reviewed by USGSCosta Rica37y ago
M4.6 earthquake 4 km S of Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Tuesday, April 3, 1990, 11:52:06 UTC · 9.938°N, 84.842°W
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck 4 km S of Puntarenas, Costa Rica on Tuesday, April 3, 1990, 11:52:06 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.9 on March 27, 1990.
- Magnitude
- 4.6
- 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
120 tons of TNT
That is about 1/126 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 4 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
73 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
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 lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.8 on April 16, 1990. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 234 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.64 km WNW of Atenas, Costa RicaDecember 21, 1939 · 47 km E of this epicenter
- 7.5Costa RicaOctober 5, 1950 · 64 km N of this epicenter
- 7.570 km WSW of Golfito, Costa RicaDecember 5, 1941 · 219 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.37 km SSE of Puntarenas, Costa RicaMarch 25, 1990 · 4 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.392 km SW of San Juan del Sur, NicaraguaDecember 30, 1907 · 198 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.353 km SSE of Quepos, Costa RicaDecember 20, 1904 · 140 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.3204 km WSW of Sámara, Costa RicaFebruary 27, 1916 · 279 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 41 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 1,781 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1930
Managua
31 Mar 1930 · 282 km away
1,000 deaths$15 million damage
- 1910M6.4
Cartago, San Jose
4 May 1910 · 92 km away
700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1952
Costa Rica
30 Dec 1952 · 152 km away
29 deaths
- 1973M6.5
Tilaran, Arenal, Rio Chiquito
14 Apr 1973 · 83 km away
26 deathsUnder $1 million damage
- 1955M5.8
Costa Rica
1 Sep 1955 · 38 km away
10 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1941M7.6
Costa Rica-Panama
5 Dec 1941 · 227 km away · intensity IV
6 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.