Strong mag. 5.9 earthquake - 78 km southwest of Tumbes, Peru, on Tuesday, December 29, 1970 at 08:01 GMT
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Strong magnitude 5.9 earthquake at 35 km depth
1 Jan 00:00 UTC: First to report: USGS after 30 seconds.
Earthquake details
| Date & time | Dec 29, 1970 08:01:59 UTC |
| Local time at epicenter | |
| Status | Confirmed |
| Magnitude | 5.9 |
| Depth | 35.0 km |
| Epicenter latitude / longitude | 3.974°S / 81.02°W  (South Pacific Ocean, Peru) |
| Antipode | 3.974°N / 98.98°E |
| Shaking intensity | Moderate shaking near epicenter |
| Felt | 0 reports |
| Primary data source | USGS (United States Geological Survey) |
| Nearby towns and cities | 8 km (5 mi) NW of Carpitas (pop: 39) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 15 km (9 mi) N of Mancora (Talara) (pop: 9,100) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 33 km (21 mi) WNW of Papayal (Contralmirante Villar) (pop: 5,480) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 35 km (22 mi) NNW of La Brea (pop: 17,700) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 39 km (24 mi) NNE of El Alto (Talara) (pop: 9,300) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 73 km (45 mi) NNE of Talara (pop: 99,100) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 78 km (48 mi) SW of Tumbes (pop: 109,200) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 98 km (61 mi) WSW of Zarumilla (pop: 16,900) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 142 km (88 mi) NNW of Piura (pop: 325,500) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 999 km (621 mi) NNW of Lima (pop: 7,737,000) | Show on map | Quakes nearby |
| Estimated seismic energy released | 4.5 x 1013 joules (12.4 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 10676 tons of TNT or 0.7 atomic bombs!) | about seismic energy |
Data for the same earthquake reported by different agencies
Info: The more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.
| Mag. | Depth | Location | Source |
| 5.9 | 35 km | near the coast of northern Peru | USGS |
User reports for this quake
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
Aftershocks
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Recorded aftershocks, latest first (0 quake)
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