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Playa Grande, Guanacaste, Costa Rica / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s
Playa Grande, Guanacaste, Costa Rica / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s
Light mag. 4.8 earthquake - Granada, 52 km south of Managua, Nicaragua, on Friday, Mar 12, 2021 at 12:48 am (GMT -6) -
Quake Data | Interactive map | User Reports | Earlier quakes here | Quakes in Nicaragua | Granada | Carazo | Masaya | Departamento de Managua | Departamento de Leon
Light magnitude 4.8 earthquake at 160 km depth
12 Mar 06:51 UTC: First to report: EMSC after 4 minutes.
12 Mar 06:56: Magnitude recalculated from 4.5 to 4.9. Hypocenter depth recalculated from 152.0 to 163.0 km (from 94 to 101 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 21 km (13 mi) towards ENE.
12 Mar 07:47: Hypocenter depth recalculated from 156.0 to 160.0 km (from 97 to 99 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 3.1 km (1.9 mi) towards NE.
12 Mar 06:56: Magnitude recalculated from 4.5 to 4.9. Hypocenter depth recalculated from 152.0 to 163.0 km (from 94 to 101 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 21 km (13 mi) towards ENE.
12 Mar 07:47: Hypocenter depth recalculated from 156.0 to 160.0 km (from 97 to 99 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 3.1 km (1.9 mi) towards NE.
Update Fri, 12 Mar 2021, 06:57
Moderate 4.9 quake hits near Managua, Departamento de Managua, Nicaragua4.9 quake 12 Mar 12:48 am (GMT -6)
Just 9 minutes ago, a 4.9-magnitude earthquake struck near Managua, Departamento de Managua, Nicaragua. The tremor was recorded after midnight on Friday 12 March 2021 at 12:48 am local time, at an intermediate to considerable depth of 163 km below the surface.
The event was filed by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), the first seismological agency to report it.
A second report was later issued by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), which listed it as a magnitude 4.8 earthquake.
Towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Nandaime (pop. 20,800) located 8 km from the epicenter, Granada (pop. 89,400) 19 km away, Masatepe (pop. 21,500) 25 km away, Jinotepe (pop. 29,500) 26 km away, Masaya (pop. 130,100) 27 km away, San Marcos (pop. 23,300) 29 km away, Diriamba (pop. 35,000) 30 km away, Tipitapa (pop. 50,000) 50 km away, and Managua (pop. 973,100) 51 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.
The event was filed by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), the first seismological agency to report it.
A second report was later issued by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), which listed it as a magnitude 4.8 earthquake.
Towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Nandaime (pop. 20,800) located 8 km from the epicenter, Granada (pop. 89,400) 19 km away, Masatepe (pop. 21,500) 25 km away, Jinotepe (pop. 29,500) 26 km away, Masaya (pop. 130,100) 27 km away, San Marcos (pop. 23,300) 29 km away, Diriamba (pop. 35,000) 30 km away, Tipitapa (pop. 50,000) 50 km away, and Managua (pop. 973,100) 51 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.
Earthquake data
Earthquake details
| Date & time | Mar 12, 2021 06:48:13 UTC - |
| Local time at epicenter | Friday, Mar 12, 2021 at 12:48 am (GMT -6) |
| Status | Confirmed |
| Magnitude | 4.8 |
| Depth | 160.0 km |
| Epicenter latitude / longitude | 11.69°N / 86.09°W  (Granada, Nicaragua) |
| Antipode | 11.69°S / 93.91°E |
| Shaking intensity | Light shaking |
| Felt | 2 reports |
| Primary data source | EMSC (European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre) |
| Nearest volcano | Mombacho (20 km / 12 mi) |
| Nearby towns and cities | 8 km (5 mi) SSW of Nandaime (pop: 20,800) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 21 km (13 mi) SE of Jinotepe (Carazo) (pop: 29,500) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 25 km (15 mi) SE of Diriamba (Carazo) (pop: 35,000) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 26 km (16 mi) SSE of Masatepe (Masaya) (pop: 21,500) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 27 km (17 mi) SSE of San Marcos (Carazo) (pop: 23,300) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 30 km (19 mi) SSW of Granada (pop: 89,400) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 41 km (26 mi) SE of El Crucero (Managua) (pop: 16,500) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 42 km (26 mi) ESE of San Rafael del Sur (Managua) (pop: 29,800) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 52 km (32 mi) SSE of Managua (pop: 973,100) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 119 km (74 mi) SE of Leon (León) (pop: 144,500) | Show on map | Quakes nearby |
| Weather at epicenter at time of quake | Broken Clouds  22.8°C (73 F), humidity: 77%, wind: 6 m/s (11 kts) from ENE |
| Estimated seismic energy released | 1 x 1012 joules (278 megawatt hours, equivalent to 239 tons of TNT) | 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 |
| 4.8 | 160 km | NICARAGUA | EMSC |
| 4.9 | 142 km | 13 Km Al Norte De El Astillero, Nicaragua | INETER |
| 4.8 | 158 km | Nicaragua | GFZ |
| 4.8 | 157 km | 7 Km SSW of Nandaime, Nicaragua | USGS |
User reports for this quake (2)
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
Earlier earthquakes in the same area
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