Reviewed by USGSPeru25y ago
M3.8 earthquake 51 km SW of El Cardo, Peru
Tuesday, September 18, 2001, 03:07:49 UTC · 16.872°S, 73.125°W
A magnitude 3.8 earthquake struck 51 km SW of El Cardo, Peru on Tuesday, September 18, 2001, 03:07:49 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 3.8
- Minor · 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
8 tons of TNT
That is about 1/1,992 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 63 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
96 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 317 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 · 87 km NW of this epicenter
- 8.121 km NNE of Minas de Marcona, PeruAugust 24, 1942 · 288 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.737 km SSW of Atico, PeruAugust 6, 1913 · 75 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.651 km SW of Punta de Bombón, PeruJuly 7, 2001 · 134 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.235 km N of El Cardo, PeruOctober 11, 1922 · 79 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.212 km NNE of Cono Norte, PeruFebruary 26, 1914 · 183 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.121 km SSE of Nazca, PeruJanuary 15, 1960 · 279 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.130 km SW of Islay (Matarani), PeruApril 12, 1988 · 94 km E of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 37 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 26,742 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1868M8.5
Arica
13 Aug 1868 · 296 km away · intensity XI
25,000 deaths$300 million damagetsunami
- 1833M7.7
Peru: Tacna; Chile: Arica
18 Sep 1833 · 272 km away · intensity VIII
700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1784M8.0
Arequipa,Camana,Moquegua,Tambo
13 May 1784 · 127 km away · intensity X
383 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1821
Camana, Ocona, Caraveli
10 Jul 1821 · 87 km away · intensity VIII
162 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1913M6.3
Amyaraes, Abancay, Casaya, Soraya
4 Nov 1913 · 298 km away · intensity X
150 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 2001M8.4
Arequipa, Moquegua, Tacna, Ayacucho
23 Jun 2001 · 87 km away · intensity VIII
103 deaths$200 million damagetsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.