Magnitude3.5

Reviewed by USGSArgentina20y ago

M3.5 earthquake 73 km WSW of San Antonio de los Cobres, Argentina

Tuesday, November 7, 2006, 03:29:04 UTC · 24.462°S, 66.996°W

A magnitude 3.5 earthquake struck 73 km WSW of San Antonio de los Cobres, Argentina on Tuesday, November 7, 2006, 03:29:04 UTC, at a depth of 147.5 km (intermediate).

Magnitude
3.5
Minor · mb
Depth
148 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: 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

328 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Altiplano and South American plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.

Depth: intermediate

148 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 lists 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.1 on November 18, 2006. 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 360 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 10 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 33 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1930M6.1

    La Poma

    24 Dec 1930 · 174 km away · intensity VIII

    31 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

  2. 1971M6.3

    Catalina, Antofagasta

    17 Jun 1971 · 250 km away · intensity V

    1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)

  3. 1950M8.0

    Chile-Argentina

    9 Dec 1950 · 119 km away · intensity VII

    1 death

  4. 1844M6.5

    Salta, Jujuy, Tucuman

    19 Oct 1844 · 117 km away · intensity VII

    Severe damage ($5–24M)

  5. 1948M6.9

    Salta

    25 Aug 1948 · 251 km away · intensity IX

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)

  6. 1959M6.6

    Salta

    12 May 1959 · 263 km away · intensity VIII

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)

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

Nearby trackers

Closest city pages