How frequent are earthquakes in the area near the epicenter of this quake (within 100 km/61 mi)?

Q: How frequent are earthquakes in the area near the epicenter of this quake (within 100 km/61 mi)?

The area where this quake occurred has a very high level of seismic activity. Based on data from the past 54 years and our earthquake archive back to 1900, there are about 60 quakes on average per year in the area near the epicenter of this quake (within 100 km/61 mi). It has had at least 41 quakes above magnitude 6 since 1900, which suggests that larger earthquakes of this size occur infrequently, probably on average approximately every 1 to 5 years.

Very Strong Mag. 6.0 Earthquake - South of Panama on Thursday, May 13, 2021, at 04:42 am (GMT -5) -

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Very strong mag. 6.0 earthquake - North Pacific Ocean, 195 km south of David, Provincia de Chiriqui, Panama, on Thursday, 13 May 2021 at 09:42 (GMT)

A very strong magnitude 6.0 earthquake occurred in the North Pacific Ocean 95 km (59 mi) from Panama in the early morning of Thursday, May 13, 2021 at 4.42 am local time (GMT -5). The quake had a very shallow depth of 10 km (6 mi) and was reported felt by some people near the epicenter.

Very strong mag. 6.0 Earthquake - South of Panama on Thursday, May 13, 2021, at 04:42 am (GMT -5)

Very strong magnitude 6.0 earthquake at 10 km depth

13 May 09:49 UTC: First to report: GFZ after 7 minutes.
13 May 09:50: Epicenter location corrected by 1.6 km (1 mi) towards NE.
13 May 10:06: Magnitude recalculated from 5.8 to 5.9.
13 May 10:35: Magnitude recalculated from 5.9 to 6.0. Epicenter location corrected by 5 km (3.1 mi) towards SSW.

Earthquake details

Date & time	May 13, 2021 09:42:13 UTC
Local time at epicenter	Thursday, May 13, 2021, at 04:42 am (GMT -5)
Status	Confirmed
Magnitude	6.0
Depth	10 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude	6.67°N / 82.45°W North Pacific Ocean, Panama Also near: Costa Rica 159 km (99 mi) away
Seismic antipode	6.67°S / 97.55°E
Shaking intensity	VI Strong shaking near epicenter
Felt	1 report
Primary data source	GFZ (German Research Centre for Geosciences)
Nearest volcano	Baru (234 km / 145 mi)
Weather at epicenter at time of quake	Broken Clouds 27.5°C (82 F), humidity: 75%, wind: 2 m/s (3 kts) from SW
Estimated seismic energy released	6.3 x 10¹³ joules (17.5 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 15080 tons of TNT or 0.9 atomic bombs!) \| about seismic energy

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Most recent quakes Top 20 past 24 hrs Quakes in Panama

Nearby places

The closest larger town where the quake might have been felt is Bahia Honda, a town with 216 inhabitants in Panama, in 158 km (98 mi) distance northeast of the epicenter. People likely experienced light shaking there. In the capital of

Panama, Panama, 414 km (257 mi) away from the epicenter, the earthquake was probably felt as weak shaking.
The following table shows some of the places that might have been affected (or not) by the shaking.

Distance	Place	Max. shaking intensity(*)	Region	Country
158 km (98 mi) NE of epicenter	Bahia Honda (pop: 216)	IV: Light	Sona, Veraguas	Panama
185 km (115 mi) N of epicenter	Puerto Armuelles (pop: 11,700)	IV: Light	Baru, Chiriqui	Panama
190 km (118 mi) N of epicenter	Pedregal (pop: 17,400)	IV: Light	David, Chiriqui	Panama
194 km (121 mi) NE of epicenter	Sona (pop: 7,670)	IV: Light	Sona, Veraguas	Panama
195 km (121 mi) NE of epicenter	Tolé (pop: 2,790)	IV: Light	Chiriqui	Panama
195 km (121 mi) N of epicenter	David (pop: 82,000)	IV: Light	Chiriqui	Panama
196 km (122 mi) N of epicenter	Las Lomas (pop: 11,700)	IV: Light	David, Chiriqui	Panama
196 km (122 mi) N of epicenter	Divala (pop: 2,510)	IV: Light	Alanje, Chiriqui	Panama
227 km (141 mi) NE of epicenter	Santiago (pop: 45,400)	IV: Light	Veraguas	Panama
414 km (257 mi) NE of epicenter	Panama (pop: 408,200)	III: Weak	Panama, Panama	Panama

Notes:
(*) Shaking intensity according to the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale (MMI) and estimated using seismic models.

User-reports for this quake (2)

We received 2 reports for this quake.

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.

Translate

Renacimiento / not felt

Santa Fe, Veraguas / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / single lateral shake / very short

What is Intensity and the Mercalli Intensity Scale?

The amount of shaking that occurs on the surface due to an earthquake is called the intensity. It is commonly measured on the so-called Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale (MMI) ranging from 1 (not felt) to 10 (extreme shaking), and given in Roman numerals as I,II,...IX, X, and often displayed with color codes ranging from light blue to dark red.
Earthquake intensity depends mainly on the magnitude and depth of the quake as well as the distance from the epicenter: The further away, the less shaking intensity occurs.
Read more about the MMI scale!

Compare Quake Data

Data for the same earthquake as reported by different agencies

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	Time GMT 2021-05-13	Epicenter	Agency
6.0	10 km 6.2 mi (*)	09:42:13	South of Panama	GFZ (German Research Centre for Geosciences)
6.0	10 km 6.2 mi (*)	09:42:11	SOUTH OF PANAMA 15 km (9.6 mi) epicenter difference with GFZ	EMSC (European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre)
5.1	10 km 6.2 mi (*)	09:42:12	Near David, Panama 7.4 km (4.6 mi) epicenter difference with GFZ	RENASS (Réseau National de Surveillance Sismique (RéNaSS))
5.7	10 km 6.2 mi (*)	09:42:11	88 Km Al Suroeste De Isla Jicarón, Distrito Montijo, Panamá, Panama 9.7 km (6 mi) epicenter difference with GFZ	INETER
6.0	10.2 km 6.3 mi	09:42:12	South of Panama [Sea: Panama] 11 km (7.1 mi) epicenter difference with GFZ	INGV (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia)
6.1	10 km 6.2 mi (*)	09:42:12	154 km SSE of Punta de Burica, Panama 6.2 km (3.9 mi) epicenter difference with GFZ	USGS (United States Geological Survey)
6.0	11 km 7 mi	09:42:12	South of Panama 14 km (8.4 mi) epicenter difference with GFZ	GeoAu (Geoscience Australia )
5.5	37 km 23 mi	09:42:15	South of Panama 17 km (10.4 mi) epicenter difference with GFZ	BMKG (Meteorological, Climatological, and Geophysical Agency of Indonesia)
5.7	10 km 6.2 mi (*)	09:42:00	113 Km Al Suroeste De Isla De Coiba, Panama. 8 km (5 mi) epicenter difference with GFZ	RSN

Notes:
(*) A depth given as 10 km often means that the the depth of the quake could not determined with sufficient accuracy.

Seismograms

Seismic station: Las Juntas de Abangares, Costa Rica (JTS/II network) | Distance from quake: 488 km / 303 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Las Juntas de Abangares, Costa Rica: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismogram (vertical component) around time of quake. Thin dotted red line indicates time of quake. Seismic waves arrive some time later, depending on distance. Bandpass filter applied: 0.1-10.0 Hz. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

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Seismic station Las Juntas de Abangares, Costa Rica: horizontal (E-W) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Las Juntas de Abangares, Costa Rica: horizontal (N-S) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismograms around time of quake, showing horizontal E-W and N-S ground movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station: Otavalo, Ecuador (OTAV/IU network) | Distance from quake: 842 km / 523 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Otavalo, Ecuador: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismogram (vertical component) around time of quake. Thin dotted red line indicates time of quake. Seismic waves arrive some time later, depending on distance. Bandpass filter applied: 0.02-5.0 Hz. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station Otavalo, Ecuador: horizontal (E-W) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Otavalo, Ecuador: horizontal (N-S) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismograms around time of quake.
Top: vertical movement, bottom: horizontal (E-W and N-S) movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station: Puerto Ayora, Galapagos Islands (PAYG/IU network) | Distance from quake: 1193 km / 741 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Puerto Ayora, Galapagos Islands: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismogram (vertical component) around time of quake. Thin dotted red line indicates time of quake. Seismic waves arrive some time later, depending on distance. Bandpass filter applied: 0.02-5.0 Hz. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station Puerto Ayora, Galapagos Islands: horizontal (E-W) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Puerto Ayora, Galapagos Islands: horizontal (N-S) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismograms around time of quake.
Top: vertical movement, bottom: horizontal (E-W and N-S) movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station: Presa de Sabenta, Dominican Republic (SDDR/CU network) | Distance from quake: 1825 km / 1134 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Presa de Sabenta, Dominican Republic: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismogram (vertical component) around time of quake. Thin dotted red line indicates time of quake. Seismic waves arrive some time later, depending on distance. Bandpass filter applied: 0.02-2.0 Hz. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station Presa de Sabenta, Dominican Republic: horizontal (E-W) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Presa de Sabenta, Dominican Republic: horizontal (N-S) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismograms around time of quake.
Top: vertical movement, bottom: horizontal (E-W and N-S) movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station: Grenville, Grenada (GRGR/CU network) | Distance from quake: 2360 km / 1466 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Grenville, Grenada: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismogram (vertical component) around time of quake. Thin dotted red line indicates time of quake. Seismic waves arrive some time later, depending on distance. Bandpass filter applied: 0.02-2.0 Hz. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station Grenville, Grenada: horizontal (E-W) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Grenville, Grenada: horizontal (N-S) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismograms around time of quake.
Top: vertical movement, bottom: horizontal (E-W and N-S) movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Aftershocks for this quake

So far, only one aftershock has been recorded. It hit 4 weeks after the mainshock in 19.5 km (12 mi) distance. When more aftershocks are detected, we will update this section.

What are aftershocks?

Larger earthquakes (above magnitude 5 or so) such as this one are usually followed by smaller ones known as aftershocks that occur in the same area during the days, weeks, months or even years after the main shock.

[More info]

What about this quake?

Based on its magnitude, the fault that was active during the quake likely ruptured beneath a surface of approx. 100 km² (=39 sqare miles) as a first-order estimate. The length of the rupture zone thus was probably around 17 km (11 mi).

[More info]

Recorded aftershocks, latest first (1 quake)

Date and Time GMT	Mag Depth	Distance	Region	Details
Jun 9, 2021 11:17 pm (GMT -5) 3 years ago 4 weeks after main shock	3.9 15 km	19 km (12 mi) SW of main shock	137 Km Al Suroeste De Isla De Coiba, Panama.	More
May 13, 2021 04:42 am (GMT -5) 3 years ago - felt	6.0 10 km	0 km - This quake	North Pacific Ocean, 195 km S of David, Chiriqui, Panama Main Shock (this quake)	More

Map of aftershocks

Earthquake statistics

Average number of earthquakes

Based on data from the past 54 years and our earthquake archive back to 1900, there are about 60 quakes on average per year in the area near the epicenter of this quake (within 100 km/61 mi):

Mag. 6 or higher: 0.33 quakes per year (or 1 quake every 3 years)
Mag. 5 or higher: 1.53 quakes per year
Mag. 4 or higher: 24.3 quakes per year
Mag. 3 or higher: 59 quakes per year (or 4.9 quakes per month)
Mag. 2 or higher: 59 quakes per year (or 5 quakes per month)

The area where this quake occurred has a very high level of seismic activity. It has had at least 41 quakes above magnitude 6 since 1900, which suggests that larger earthquakes of this size occur infrequently, probably on average approximately every 1 to 5 years.

Number of quakes per year

Previous quakes in the same area of this earthquake

Map to embed or share

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