Reviewed by USGSPeru15y ago
M4.5 earthquake 88 km SW of Santiago, Peru
Tuesday, November 1, 2011, 17:30:15 UTC · 14.714°S, 76.328°W
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 88 km SW of Santiago, Peru on Tuesday, November 1, 2011, 17:30:15 UTC, at a depth of 1.5 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.7 on October 31, 2011.
- Magnitude
- 4.5
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 2 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
85 tons of TNT
That is about 1/178 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 6 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
44 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
2 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 lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.8 on November 2, 2011. 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 295 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.121 km NNE of Minas de Marcona, PeruAugust 24, 1942 · 145 km E of this epicenter
- 8.041 km SW of San Vicente de Cañete, PeruAugust 15, 2007 · 151 km N of this epicenter
- 7.760 km SW of Changuillo, PeruNovember 12, 1996 · 77 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.287 km SW of Callao, PeruNovember 9, 1974 · 292 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.121 km SSE of Nazca, PeruJanuary 15, 1960 · 160 km E of this epicenter
- 6.939 km SW of Santiago, PeruOctober 28, 2011 · 50 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.913 km SSW of San Juan, PeruOctober 3, 1916 · 222 km E of this epicenter
- 6.752 km SW of San Vicente de Cañete, PeruOctober 20, 2006 · 145 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 26 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 726 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 2007M8.0
Ica, Pisco, Lima
15 Aug 2007 · 151 km away · intensity VIII
596 deaths$600 million damagetsunami
- 1813
Ica
30 Mar 1813 · 121 km away · intensity VII
32 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1942M8.2
Ica, Nazca
24 Aug 1942 · 47 km away · intensity IX
30 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1996M7.7
Chincha Alta, Acari, Nazca, Marcona
12 Nov 1996 · 77 km away · intensity VIII
14 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1974M6.3
Lima, Yauyos
5 Jan 1974 · 268 km away
10 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1981M5.2
Central
22 Jun 1981 · 260 km away
10 deaths$5 million damage
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.