Reviewed by USGSCosta Rica14y ago
M4.8 earthquake 13 km E of Bijagua, Costa Rica
Saturday, November 17, 2012, 04:35:58 UTC · 10.726°N, 84.934°W
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 13 km E of Bijagua, Costa Rica on Saturday, November 17, 2012, 04:35:58 UTC, at a depth of 181.1 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.5 on October 24, 2012.
- Magnitude
- 4.8
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 181 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
239 tons of TNT
That is about 1/63 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 2 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
12 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: intermediate
181 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 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 420 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 · 286 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.611 km ENE of Hojancha, Costa RicaSeptember 5, 2012 · 83 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.634 km S of Limón, Costa RicaApril 22, 1991 · 234 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.64 km WNW of Atenas, Costa RicaDecember 21, 1939 · 100 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.5Costa RicaOctober 5, 1950 · 30 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.570 km WSW of Golfito, Costa RicaDecember 5, 1941 · 299 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.37 km SSE of Puntarenas, Costa RicaMarch 25, 1990 · 91 km S of this epicenter
- 7.392 km SW of San Juan del Sur, NicaraguaDecember 30, 1907 · 170 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 53 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 14,357 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1972M6.2
Managua
23 Dec 1972 · 225 km away
10,000 deaths$3.0 billion damage
- 1931M5.6
Managua
31 Mar 1931 · 287 km away
2,450 deaths$15 million damage
- 1930
Managua
31 Mar 1930 · 206 km away
1,000 deaths$15 million damage
- 1910M6.4
Cartago, San Jose
4 May 1910 · 130 km away
700 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1991M7.6
Limon, Pandora; Panama
22 Apr 1991 · 234 km away · intensity X
90 deaths$510 million damagetsunami
- 1952
Costa Rica
30 Dec 1952 · 164 km away
29 deaths
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.