Strong mag. 5.5 earthquake - South Pacific Ocean, 78 km southwest of Mollendo, Peru, on Saturday, 27 Feb 2021 9:16 pm (GMT -5) -

Strong mag. 5.5 earthquake - South Pacific Ocean, 78 km southwest of Mollendo, Peru, on Saturday, 27 Feb 2021 9:16 pm (GMT -5)

Strong magnitude 5.5 earthquake at 10 km depth

28 Feb 02:21 UTC: First to report: GFZ after 5 minutes.
28 Feb 02:22: Epicenter location corrected by 4.8 km (3 mi) towards ENE.
28 Feb 08:16: Magnitude recalculated from 5.2 to 5.5. Epicenter location corrected by 7.7 km (4.8 mi) towards NW.
Update Sun, 28 Feb 2021, 02:27
Significant magnitude 5.2 quake hits 79 km southwest of Mollendo, Peru in the evening
5.2 quake 27 Feb 9:16 pm (GMT -5)
5.2 quake 27 Feb 9:16 pm (GMT -5)
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake near Mollendo, Provincia de Islay, Arequipa, Peru, was reported only 11 minutes ago by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), considered one of the key international agencies that monitor seismic activity worldwide. The earthquake occurred at a shallow depth of 10 km beneath the epicenter in the evening on Saturday 27 February 2021 at 9:16 pm local time. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
A second report was later issued by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), which listed it as a magnitude 5.3 earthquake.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Islay (Matarani) (pop. 4,800) located 77 km from the epicenter, Mollendo (pop. 29,000) 79 km away, Cocachacra (pop. 8,800) 93 km away, Camana (pop. 16,400) 112 km away, and Ilo (pop. 53,500) 118 km away.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you're in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.
Download the Volcanoes & Earthquakes app to get one of the fastest seismic alerts online:
Android | IOS

Earthquake data:

Date & time: 28 Feb 2021 02:16:04 UTC -
Local time at epicenter: Saturday, 27 Feb 2021 9:16 pm (GMT -5)
Magnitude: 5.5
Depth: 10.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 17.55°S / 72.5°W (South Pacific Ocean, Peru)
Nearest volcano: Cerro Nicholson (167 km / 104 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
75 km (46 mi) SW of Islay (Matarani) (pop: 4,820) --> See nearby quakes!
78 km (48 mi) SW of Mollendo (Provincia de Islay) (pop: 29,000) --> See nearby quakes!
86 km (53 mi) WSW of Punta de Bombon (Provincia de Islay) (pop: 6,340) --> See nearby quakes!
94 km (58 mi) SW of Cocachacra (Provincia de Islay) (pop: 8,800) --> See nearby quakes!
105 km (66 mi) SSE of Camana (Camaná) (pop: 16,400) --> See nearby quakes!
123 km (77 mi) W of Ilo (pop: 53,500) --> See nearby quakes!
136 km (85 mi) SSW of El Pedregal (pop: 20,100) --> See nearby quakes!
164 km (102 mi) SW of Arequipa (pop: 841,100) --> See nearby quakes!
171 km (106 mi) WSW of Moquegua (pop: 54,500) --> See nearby quakes!
782 km (486 mi) SE of Lima (pop: 7,737,000) --> See nearby quakes!
Weather at epicenter at time of quake:
Overcast Clouds 22.9°C (73 F), humidity: 76%, wind: 3 m/s (6 kts) from SE
Primary data source: GFZ (German Research Centre for Geosciences)
Estimated released energy: 1.1 x 1013 joules (3.12 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 2682 tons of TNT or 0.2 atomic bombs!) More info
Show interactive Map
[smaller] [bigger]
If you felt this quake (or if you were near the epicenter), please share your experience and submit a short "I felt it" report! Other users would love to hear about it!
Also if you did NOT feel the quake although you were in the area, please report it! Your contribution is valuable also to earthquake science and earthquake hazard analysis and mitigation efforts. You can use your device location or the map to indicate where you were during the earthquake. Thank you!

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.
MagnitudeDepthLocationSource
5.510 kmNear Coast of PeruGFZ
5.510 kmNEAR COAST OF SOUTHERN PERUEMSC
5.59.7 km81 Km SW of Islay (Matarani), PeruUSGS
5.67.1 km158 Km Al O De Ilo, PeruGUG (U. Chile)
5.710 kmNear Coast of PeruGeoAu
5.310 kmNear Coast of PeruUSP

User reports for this quake (1)

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
Contribute:
Leave a comment if you find a particular report interesting or want to add to it.
Flag as inappropriate.
Mark as helpful or interesting.
Send your own user report!
165.8 km NE of epicenter [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III) : Moving things | 2 users found this interesting. (reported through our app)
Volcanoes & Earthquakes - new app for Android

Aftershocks

Please check again later while we are collecting more data.

Earlier earthquakes in the same area since 1900


Map of earlier quakes

Why is there advertising on this site?
Support us - Help us upgrade our services!
We truly love working to bring you the latest volcano and earthquake data from around the world. Maintaining our website and our free apps does require, however, considerable time and resources.
We need financing to increase hard- and software capacity as well as support our editor team. We're aiming to achieve uninterrupted service wherever an earthquake or volcano eruption unfolds, and your donations can make it happen! Every donation will be highly appreciated. If you find the information useful and would like to support our team in integrating further features, write great content, and in upgrading our soft- and hardware, please make a donation (PayPal or Online credit card payment).

Planned features:
  • Weather reports
  • Tsunami alerts
  • Design upgrades
  • Faster responsiveness
Thanks to your past donations, these features have been added recently:
  • Earthquake archive from 1900 onwards
  • Additional seismic data sources
  • Improved content in English
Download and Upgrade the Volcanoes & Earthquakes app to get one of the fastest seismic and volcano alerts online:
Android | IOS
Thank you!
Copyrights: VolcanoDiscovery and other sources as noted.
Use of material: Most texts and images, in particular photographs, on this website are protected by copyright. Further reproduction and use of without authorization is usually not consented. If you are not sure or need licensing rights for photographs, for example for publications and commercial use, please contact us.