Reviewed by USGSNicaragua34y ago
M4.5 earthquake 164 km SW of Corinto, Nicaragua
Friday, October 2, 1992, 11:00:41 UTC · 11.543°N, 88.349°W
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 164 km SW of Corinto, Nicaragua on Friday, October 2, 1992, 11:00:41 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.7 on October 1, 1992.
- Magnitude
- 4.5
- Light · ms
- 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
85 tons of TNT
That is about 1/178 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 6 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
16 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
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 310 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.712 km NW of Chalatenango, El SalvadorSeptember 7, 1915 · 296 km N of this epicenter
- 7.783 km SSW of Corinto, NicaraguaSeptember 2, 1992 · 112 km E of this epicenter
- 7.392 km SW of San Juan del Sur, NicaraguaDecember 30, 1907 · 224 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.318 km SSW of La Libertad, El SalvadorJune 19, 1982 · 229 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.3204 km WSW of Sámara, Costa RicaFebruary 27, 1916 · 258 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.27 km SW of El Viejo, NicaraguaMarch 28, 1921 · 171 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.2116 km SW of Corinto, NicaraguaJuly 1, 1907 · 56 km E of this epicenter
- 7.1113 km SSW of Puerto El Triunfo, El SalvadorFebruary 8, 1926 · 97 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 54 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 16,285 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1972M6.2
Managua
23 Dec 1972 · 263 km away
10,000 deaths$3.0 billion damage
- 1986M5.4
San Salvador
10 Oct 1986 · 267 km away
1,100 deaths$1.5 billion damage
- 1951M6.5
Jucuapa
6 May 1951 · 173 km away
1,100 deaths$23 million damage
- 1854
San Salvador
14 Apr 1854 · 267 km away
1,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1930
Managua
31 Mar 1930 · 242 km away
1,000 deaths$15 million damage
- 1873
Santa Tomas, San Vicente
4 Mar 1873 · 248 km away
800 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.