Reviewed by USGSNicaragua34y ago
M3.9 earthquake 70 km W of Masachapa, Nicaragua
Thursday, October 8, 1992, 01:50:54 UTC · 11.698°N, 87.155°W
A magnitude 3.9 earthquake struck 70 km W of Masachapa, Nicaragua on Thursday, October 8, 1992, 01:50:54 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 3.9
- Minor · mb
- Depth
- 10 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
11 tons of TNT
That is about 1/1,410 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 45 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
73 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
10 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 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.6 on October 11, 1992. 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 300 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 · 21 km W of this epicenter
- 7.5Costa RicaOctober 5, 1950 · 267 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.392 km SW of San Juan del Sur, NicaraguaDecember 30, 1907 · 135 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.3204 km WSW of Sámara, Costa RicaFebruary 27, 1916 · 251 km S of this epicenter
- 7.27 km SW of El Viejo, NicaraguaMarch 28, 1921 · 102 km N of this epicenter
- 7.2116 km SW of Corinto, NicaraguaJuly 1, 1907 · 75 km W of this epicenter
- 7.1113 km SSW of Puerto El Triunfo, El SalvadorFebruary 8, 1926 · 191 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 45 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 15,451 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1972M6.2
Managua
23 Dec 1972 · 139 km away
10,000 deaths$3.0 billion damage
- 1931M5.6
Managua
31 Mar 1931 · 230 km away
2,450 deaths$15 million damage
- 1951M6.5
Jucuapa
6 May 1951 · 161 km away
1,100 deaths$23 million damage
- 1930
Managua
31 Mar 1930 · 113 km away
1,000 deaths$15 million damage
- 1936
San Vicente
19 Dec 1936 · 237 km away
400 deaths
- 1873
Salvador,San Vicente
11 Apr 1873 · 291 km away
300 deaths
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.