M7.7 earthquake 83 km SSW of Corinto, Nicaragua

Wednesday, September 2, 1992, 00:16:01 UTC · 11.742°N, 87.340°W

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck 83 km SSW of Corinto, Nicaragua on Wednesday, September 2, 1992, 00:16:01 UTC, at a depth of 44.8 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.

Magnitude: 7.7; Major · mw
Depth: 45 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: VII; Very strong (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 200 km aftershock search areaColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

5.4 megatons of TNT

That is about 355 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 11,220 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

65 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Caribbean and Cocos plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: shallow

45 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 200 km

USGS lists 135 M2.5+ earthquakes within 200 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.0 on September 5, 1992. 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 281 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 53 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 16,443 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1972M6.2
Managua
23 Dec 1972 · 153 km away
10,000 deaths$3.0 billion damage
1931M5.6
Managua
31 Mar 1931 · 241 km away
2,450 deaths$15 million damage
1951M6.5
Jucuapa
6 May 1951 · 149 km away
1,100 deaths$23 million damage
1930
Managua
31 Mar 1930 · 130 km away
1,000 deaths$15 million damage
1873
Santa Tomas, San Vicente
4 Mar 1873 · 287 km away
800 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
1936
San Vicente
19 Dec 1936 · 219 km away
400 deaths

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

Nearby trackers