Reviewed by USGSCosta Rica14y ago
M4.2 earthquake 6 km SE of Belén, Costa Rica
Tuesday, November 13, 2012, 00:12:01 UTC · 10.372°N, 85.542°W
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 6 km SE of Belén, Costa Rica on Tuesday, November 13, 2012, 00:12:01 UTC, at a depth of 51.7 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.2
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 52 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
30 tons of TNT
That is about 1/500 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 16 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
25 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Panama and Caribbean plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
52 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 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.2 on November 26, 2012. 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 436 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.783 km SSW of Corinto, NicaraguaSeptember 2, 1992 · 248 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.611 km ENE of Hojancha, Costa RicaSeptember 5, 2012 · 40 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.634 km S of Limón, Costa RicaApril 22, 1991 · 281 km E of this epicenter
- 7.64 km WNW of Atenas, Costa RicaDecember 21, 1939 · 131 km E of this epicenter
- 7.5Costa RicaOctober 5, 1950 · 56 km E of this epicenter
- 7.37 km SSE of Puntarenas, Costa RicaMarch 25, 1990 · 95 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.392 km SW of San Juan del Sur, NicaraguaDecember 30, 1907 · 109 km W of this epicenter
- 7.353 km SSE of Quepos, Costa RicaDecember 20, 1904 · 227 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 52 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 12,071 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1972M6.2
Managua
23 Dec 1972 · 234 km away
10,000 deaths$3.0 billion damage
- 1930
Managua
31 Mar 1930 · 205 km away
1,000 deaths$15 million damage
- 1910M6.4
Cartago, San Jose
4 May 1910 · 174 km away
700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1992M7.6
Masachapa; Costa Rica
2 Sep 1992 · 258 km away
170 deaths$30 million damagetsunami
- 1991M7.6
Limon, Pandora; Panama
22 Apr 1991 · 281 km away · intensity X
90 deaths$510 million damagetsunami
- 1952
Costa Rica
30 Dec 1952 · 224 km away
29 deaths
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.