QuakeScout
Magnitude4.6

Reviewed by USGSNicaragua34y ago

M4.6 earthquake 51 km WSW of Masachapa, Nicaragua

Sunday, October 11, 1992, 22:43:54 UTC · 11.544°N, 86.922°W

A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck 51 km WSW of Masachapa, Nicaragua on Sunday, October 11, 1992, 22:43:54 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.8 on October 9, 1992.

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 earthquake

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

76 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 297 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.783 km SSW of Corinto, NicaraguaSeptember 2, 1992 · 51 km NW of this epicenter
  2. 7.5Costa RicaOctober 5, 1950 · 236 km SE of this epicenter
  3. 7.37 km SSE of Puntarenas, Costa RicaMarch 25, 1990 · 293 km SE of this epicenter
  4. 7.392 km SW of San Juan del Sur, NicaraguaDecember 30, 1907 · 107 km SE of this epicenter
  5. 7.3204 km WSW of Sámara, Costa RicaFebruary 27, 1916 · 237 km S of this epicenter
  6. 7.27 km SW of El Viejo, NicaraguaMarch 28, 1921 · 123 km N of this epicenter
  7. 7.2116 km SW of Corinto, NicaraguaJuly 1, 1907 · 102 km W of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 43 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 15,151 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1972M6.2

    Managua

    23 Dec 1972 · 131 km away

    10,000 deaths$3.0 billion damage

  2. 1931M5.6

    Managua

    31 Mar 1931 · 227 km away

    2,450 deaths$15 million damage

  3. 1951M6.5

    Jucuapa

    6 May 1951 · 188 km away

    1,100 deaths$23 million damage

  4. 1930

    Managua

    31 Mar 1930 · 100 km away

    1,000 deaths$15 million damage

  5. 1936

    San Vicente

    19 Dec 1936 · 267 km away

    400 deaths

  6. 1992M7.6

    Masachapa; Costa Rica

    2 Sep 1992 · 75 km away

    170 deaths$30 million damagetsunami

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

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