Reviewed by USGSPeru30y ago
M3.5 earthquake 4 km ENE of Changuillo, Peru
Tuesday, December 10, 1996, 09:36:55 UTC · 14.649°S, 75.187°W
A magnitude 3.5 earthquake struck 4 km ENE of Changuillo, Peru on Tuesday, December 10, 1996, 09:36:55 UTC, at a depth of 100.0 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 3.5
- Minor · mb
- Depth
- 100 km
- Intermediate
- 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
3 tons of TNT
That is about 1/5,615 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 178 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
12 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Altiplano and South American plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: intermediate
100 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 220 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.121 km NNE of Minas de Marcona, PeruAugust 24, 1942 · 47 km S of this epicenter
- 7.737 km SSW of Atico, PeruAugust 6, 1913 · 261 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.760 km SW of Changuillo, PeruNovember 12, 1996 · 65 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.121 km SSE of Nazca, PeruJanuary 15, 1960 · 53 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.913 km SSW of San Juan, PeruOctober 3, 1916 · 100 km E of this epicenter
- 6.7165 km SSW of Atiquipa, PeruJuly 28, 1913 · 281 km S of this epicenter
- 6.7103 km SSW of Atico, PeruSeptember 13, 1919 · 295 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.652 km SSE of Atico, PeruAugust 7, 1944 · 289 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 29 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 543 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1821
Camana, Ocona, Caraveli
10 Jul 1821 · 288 km away · intensity VIII
162 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1913M6.3
Amyaraes, Abancay, Casaya, Soraya
4 Nov 1913 · 251 km away · intensity X
150 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1960M7.8
Arequipa,Chuquibamba,Caraveli,Cotahuasi
13 Jan 1960 · 289 km away · intensity X
63 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1914
Pararca,Paysa,Colta,Oyala
2 Dec 1914 · 222 km away · intensity X
34 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1813
Ica
30 Mar 1813 · 65 km away · intensity VII
32 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1942M8.2
Ica, Nazca
24 Aug 1942 · 96 km away · intensity IX
30 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.