Reviewed by USGSArgentina28y ago
M3.5 earthquake 46 km WNW of Mendoza, Argentina
Sunday, October 4, 1998, 05:54:34 UTC · 32.694°S, 69.270°W
A magnitude 3.5 earthquake struck 46 km WNW of Mendoza, Argentina on Sunday, October 4, 1998, 05:54:34 UTC, at a depth of 9.3 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 3.5
- Minor · md
- Depth
- 9 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
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
330 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Nazca and South American plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
9 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 M3.9 on October 19, 1998. 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 452 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.2The 1906 Valparaiso, Chile EarthquakeAugust 17, 1906 · 202 km W of this epicenter
- 8.145 km NNW of Illapel, ChileApril 6, 1943 · 254 km NW of this epicenter
- 8.025 km WSW of Valparaíso, ChileMarch 3, 1985 · 248 km W of this epicenter
- 7.819 km NNE of Hacienda La Calera, ChileJuly 9, 1971 · 178 km W of this epicenter
- 7.47 km SSE of La Ligua, ChileMarch 28, 1965 · 182 km W of this epicenter
- 7.4San Juan, ArgentinaNovember 23, 1977 · 233 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.419 km S of Valparaíso, ChileMarch 4, 1985 · 230 km W of this epicenter
- 7.237 km S of San Antonio, ChileMarch 18, 1931 · 253 km SW 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 29,270 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1861
Mendoza, San Luiz
20 Mar 1861 · 46 km away · intensity IX
14,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1944M6.9
San Juan Province
15 Jan 1944 · 152 km away · intensity IX
10,000 deaths$100 million damage
- 1906M8.2
South Central
17 Aug 1906 · 257 km away · intensity XI
4,000 deaths$100 million damagetsunami
- 1965M7.3
Central
28 Mar 1965 · 184 km away
400 deaths$125 million damage
- 1920M6.7
Mendoza
17 Dec 1920 · 119 km away · intensity VIII
400 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1985M8.0
Central Coast, San Antonio, Valparaiso
3 Mar 1985 · 233 km away · intensity VIII
180 deaths$1.5 billion damagetsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.