Earthquakes in Costa Rica, 1927–2026
From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 100 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Costa Rica. 10 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 7.6, three times, most recently on September 5, 2012 (11 km ENE of Hojancha, Costa Rica).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded no earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.
What the record holds
The deadliest of them was a magnitude 7.6 on April 22, 1991 (34 km S of Limón, Costa Rica), for which NOAA records 90 deaths. 24 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 19 of the events here, 348 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 6.5 on November 13, 2017 (18 km W of Parrita, Costa Rica). NOAA lists 10 tsunamis that began in or off Costa Rica, and 2 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 7.3 m, on September 2, 1992. The deadliest, on April 22, 1991, killed 3 people here by NOAA’s runup records. NOAA lists 8 significant eruptions of 3 volcanoes in or off Costa Rica. The largest was Arenal on July 29, 1968, at 3 on the volcanic explosivity index. It killed 80 people by NOAA’s count.
The events
- November 13, 2017Earthquake · M 6.518 km W of Parrita, Costa Rica · 2 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- September 5, 2012Earthquake · M 7.611 km ENE of Hojancha, Costa Rica · 2 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- September 2, 1992Tsunami · 7.3 m hereNicaraguaNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- April 22, 1991Earthquake · M 7.634 km S of Limón, Costa Rica · 90 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- April 22, 1991Tsunami · 3 m hereLimon, Pandora · 3 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- July 29, 1968Eruption · VEI 3Arenal · 80 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- December 10, 1963Eruption · VEI 3Irazu · 40 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- March 17, 1963Eruption · VEI 3Irazu · 15 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- December 5, 1941Earthquake · M 7.570 km WSW of Golfito, Costa Rica · 6 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI
- December 21, 1939Earthquake · M 7.64 km WNW of Atenas, Costa RicaUSGS
- July 18, 1934Earthquake · M 7.544 km ESE of Burica, PanamaUSGS · NOAA NCEI
Good to know
- An event counts for Costa Rica when it began inside its borders, or at sea within 100 km of its coast (so one can count for two neighbours), or further out, up to 300 km, where Costa Rica is the nearest country.
- USGS counts here start at magnitude 6: the catalogue’s smaller quakes thin out going back, where few instruments listened.
- NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
- Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
- A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
- The map frames the box around Costa Rica, its neighbours’ quakes included, so its count runs higher than this page’s.
- Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.
How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history