M5.1 earthquake 53 km W of Paracas, Peru

Wednesday, September 5, 2007, 10:53:09 UTC · 13.880°S, 76.758°W

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck 53 km W of Paracas, Peru on Wednesday, September 5, 2007, 10:53:09 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). USGS received 7 “Did You Feel It?” reports, with a maximum reported intensity of III (weak). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.3 on August 21, 2007.

Magnitude: 5.1; Moderate · mb
Depth: 35 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 7; Max intensity III
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

674 tons of TNT

That is about 1/22 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

73 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Nazca and South American plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: shallow

35 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

Reports sent by people to USGS, grouped by place (most reports first). Intensity uses the Modified Mercalli scale (I–X): what people felt, not the magnitude.

Place	Intensity	Reports	Distance
Lima, Lima Provincias, Peru	III · Weak	7	205 km

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 7 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.9 on September 9, 2007. 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 247 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 41 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 6,908 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1746M8.0
Lima, Callao
29 Oct 1746 · 215 km away · intensity XI
5,941 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
2007M8.0
Ica, Pisco, Lima
15 Aug 2007 · 57 km away · intensity VIII
596 deaths$600 million damagetsunami
1969M6.6
Huaytapallana, Lampa, Chilifruta
1 Oct 1969 · 293 km away · intensity XI
130 deaths$5 million damage
1974M8.1
Lima, Callao
3 Oct 1974 · 211 km away · intensity IX
78 deaths$10 million damagetsunami
1813
Ica
30 Mar 1813 · 149 km away · intensity VII
32 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
1942M8.2
Ica, Nazca
24 Aug 1942 · 149 km away · intensity IX
30 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers