Reviewed by USGSNicaragua34y ago
M4.4 earthquake 5 km N of San Rafael del Sur, Nicaragua
Saturday, September 26, 1992, 20:36:16 UTC · 11.899°N, 86.446°W
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 5 km N of San Rafael del Sur, Nicaragua on Saturday, September 26, 1992, 20:36:16 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.4
- 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
60 tons of TNT
That is about 1/251 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 8 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
141 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Caribbean and Cocos plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
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 293 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.783 km SSW of Corinto, NicaraguaSeptember 2, 1992 · 99 km W of this epicenter
- 7.5Costa RicaOctober 5, 1950 · 220 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.37 km SSE of Puntarenas, Costa RicaMarch 25, 1990 · 284 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.392 km SW of San Juan del Sur, NicaraguaDecember 30, 1907 · 136 km S of this epicenter
- 7.3204 km WSW of Sámara, Costa RicaFebruary 27, 1916 · 289 km S of this epicenter
- 7.27 km SW of El Viejo, NicaraguaMarch 28, 1921 · 115 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.2116 km SW of Corinto, NicaraguaJuly 1, 1907 · 155 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 47 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 15,161 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1972M6.2
Managua
23 Dec 1972 · 67 km away
10,000 deaths$3.0 billion damage
- 1931M5.6
Managua
31 Mar 1931 · 166 km away
2,450 deaths$15 million damage
- 1951M6.5
Jucuapa
6 May 1951 · 191 km away
1,100 deaths$23 million damage
- 1930
Managua
31 Mar 1930 · 35 km away
1,000 deaths$15 million damage
- 1936
San Vicente
19 Dec 1936 · 284 km away
400 deaths
- 1992M7.6
Masachapa; Costa Rica
2 Sep 1992 · 134 km away
170 deaths$30 million damagetsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.