M5.4 earthquake 36 km NNW of Villa Basilio Nievas, Argentina

Friday, December 11, 1998, 08:37:50 UTC · 31.266°S, 68.918°W

A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck 36 km NNW of Villa Basilio Nievas, Argentina on Friday, December 11, 1998, 08:37:50 UTC, at a depth of 117.6 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.5 on November 27, 1998.

Magnitude: 5.4; Moderate · mwc
Depth: 118 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 75 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

2 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/8 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 4 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

354 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: intermediate

118 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 75 km

USGS lists 6 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M3.8 on January 8, 1999. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 401 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 33 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 25,002 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1861
Mendoza, San Luiz
20 Mar 1861 · 171 km away · intensity IX
14,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
1944M6.9
San Juan Province
15 Jan 1944 · 48 km away · intensity IX
10,000 deaths$100 million damage
1965M7.3
Central
28 Mar 1965 · 250 km away
400 deaths$125 million damage
1920M6.7
Mendoza
17 Dec 1920 · 86 km away · intensity VIII
400 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1971M7.8
Central
9 Jul 1971 · 255 km away · intensity IX
83 deaths$236 million damagetsunami
1977M7.5
San Juan Province: Mendoza
23 Nov 1977 · 104 km away · intensity IX
65 deaths$80 million damage

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

Nearby trackers