Reviewed by USGSPeru25y ago
M4.3 earthquake 155 km S of Atico, Peru
Thursday, August 2, 2001, 07:36:17 UTC · 17.604°S, 73.762°W
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck 155 km S of Atico, Peru on Thursday, August 2, 2001, 07:36:17 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.3
- 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
43 tons of TNT
That is about 1/354 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 11 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
9 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Nazca and Altiplano 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 254 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.46 km SSW of Atico, PeruJune 23, 2001 · 149 km N of this epicenter
- 7.737 km SSW of Atico, PeruAugust 6, 1913 · 119 km N of this epicenter
- 7.651 km SW of Punta de Bombón, PeruJuly 7, 2001 · 179 km E of this epicenter
- 7.235 km N of El Cardo, PeruOctober 11, 1922 · 185 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.212 km NNE of Cono Norte, PeruFebruary 26, 1914 · 281 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.130 km SW of Islay (Matarani), PeruApril 12, 1988 · 161 km E of this epicenter
- 7.021 km SW of Santa Rita de Siguas, PeruJanuary 15, 1958 · 195 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.924 km NNE of El Cardo, PeruFebruary 16, 1979 · 179 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 24 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 1,493 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1833M7.7
Peru: Tacna; Chile: Arica
18 Sep 1833 · 300 km away · intensity VIII
700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1784M8.0
Arequipa,Camana,Moquegua,Tambo
13 May 1784 · 224 km away · intensity X
383 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1821
Camana, Ocona, Caraveli
10 Jul 1821 · 187 km away · intensity VIII
162 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 2001M8.4
Arequipa, Moquegua, Tacna, Ayacucho
23 Jun 2001 · 149 km away · intensity VIII
103 deaths$200 million damagetsunami
- 1960M7.8
Arequipa,Chuquibamba,Caraveli,Cotahuasi
13 Jan 1960 · 233 km away · intensity X
63 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1914
Pararca,Paysa,Colta,Oyala
2 Dec 1914 · 274 km away · intensity X
34 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.