Reviewed by USGSNicaragua34y ago
M4.5 earthquake 78 km SW of San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
Wednesday, October 14, 1992, 15:08:42 UTC · 10.824°N, 86.440°W
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 78 km SW of San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua on Wednesday, October 14, 1992, 15:08:42 UTC, at a depth of 32.2 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.6 on October 11, 1992.
- Magnitude
- 4.5
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 32 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
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
52 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Panama and Caribbean plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
32 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 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.7 on October 14, 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 294 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 · 142 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.64 km WNW of Atenas, Costa RicaDecember 21, 1939 · 240 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.5Costa RicaOctober 5, 1950 · 157 km E of this epicenter
- 7.37 km SSE of Puntarenas, Costa RicaMarch 25, 1990 · 205 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.392 km SW of San Juan del Sur, NicaraguaDecember 30, 1907 · 17 km S of this epicenter
- 7.3204 km WSW of Sámara, Costa RicaFebruary 27, 1916 · 181 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.27 km SW of El Viejo, NicaraguaMarch 28, 1921 · 216 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 49 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 15,458 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1972M6.2
Managua
23 Dec 1972 · 179 km away
10,000 deaths$3.0 billion damage
- 1931M5.6
Managua
31 Mar 1931 · 276 km away
2,450 deaths$15 million damage
- 1951M6.5
Jucuapa
6 May 1951 · 284 km away
1,100 deaths$23 million damage
- 1930
Managua
31 Mar 1930 · 144 km away
1,000 deaths$15 million damage
- 1910M6.4
Cartago, San Jose
4 May 1910 · 282 km away
700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1992M7.6
Masachapa; Costa Rica
2 Sep 1992 · 148 km away
170 deaths$30 million damagetsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.