Significant Earthquake

Date Earthquake Location Earthquake Parameters
Focal
Depth		 Magnitude MMI Int
Year Mo Dy Hr Mn Sec Name Latitude Longitude Mw Ms Mb Ml Mfa Unk
1970 5 31 20 23 27.3 PERU: NORTHERN, PISCO, CHICLAYO -9.200 -78.800 43 7.9 7.8 10
Significant Earthquake
Earthquake Effects Total Effects (Earthquake and Tsunami, Volcano, etc.)
Deaths Missing Injuries Damage Houses
Destroyed		 Houses
Damaged		 Deaths Missing Injuries Damage Houses
Destroyed		 Houses
Damaged
Num De Num De Num De $Mill De Num De Num De Num De Num De Num De $Mill De Num De Num De
66794 4 50000 4 530.000 4 3 3 66794 4 50000 4 530.000 4 3


Comments for the Significant Earthquake

Comments for the Significant Earthquake

Display listing of nearby significant earthquakes

On May 31, 1970, at 15:23 [local time] a catastrophic earthquake occurred in Peru. The epicenter was about 36 km from the coast of Peru.

    50,000 killed; 50,000 missing; 50,000 injured; 500,000 left without food (Ref #417).
    66,794 killed or missing; 1 million homeless; $250 million damage (Ref #45).
    54,000 killed; $507 million damage (Ref #1039).
    $530 million damage (Ref #1250).
    Intensity IX (Ref #1111).
    Intensity X (Ref #1208).

The earthquake affected the coastal region, from Pisco to Chiclayo. Intensity VIII observed from Casma to Chimbote and in the Santa Rio River Valley from Aija to Caraz; 50-70% of Chimbote destroyed (pop. 80,000); 70% of Huaras destroyed (pop. 50,000 to 65,000).

The Santa Rio River valley experienced ice avalanches, rock slides, and sludge which flowed 16 km down the valley. In Yangay, nearly 19,000 people died; only 2,500 surived. The city was buried under more than 4 m of sludge.

The earthquake generated a weak tsunami which was observed along the Peruvian coast and on tide gauges in Japan.


References for the Significant Earthquake

References for the Significant Earthquake

ID Author Year Citation
45 U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey and U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 1928-1986 United States Earthquakes, Annual publication, published 1928-1986. vol.s for 1928-1965 issued by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey; volumes for 1966-1969 issued by the National Earthquake Information Center; volume for 1970 issued by the National Geophysical Data Center; volumes for 1971-1972 issued by the National Geophysical And Solar-Terrestrial Data Center; volumes for 1973-1980 published jointly by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Geological Survey; volumes for 1981-1986 published by the U.S. Geological Survey. [on shelf]
417 Soloviev, S L., Ch. N. Go, and Kh. S. Kim 1992 Catalog of tsunamis in the Pacific, 1969-1982. Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow, 208 p. Translated from Russian by Amerind Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India, 1988 [Originally published in Russian in 1986].
1038 Bolt, B.A., W.L. Horn, G.A. MacDonald, and R.F. Scott 1977 Geological Hazards: Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Volcanoes, Avalanches, Landslides, Floods. Revised, 2nd Edition. Springer-Verlag Publishing Co., New York, p 305-312.
1039 Rothe, J.P. 1966-1973 Annual Summary of Information on Natural Disasters, UNESCO, Paris, France, 1966 (no. 1) through 1973 (no. 8), 612 p.
1111 Silgado F., Enrique 1973 Historia de los sismos mas notables occurridos en el Peru (1513-1970), Geofisica Panamericana, vol. 2, no. 1, January 1973, p. 179-243. [English translation.]
1208 Askew, B.L., and S.T. Algermissen 1985 Catalog of Earthquakes for South America, Hypocenter and Intensity Data, vol. 7A - Peru, Centro Regional de Sismologia para America del Sur, Lima, Peru.
1250 Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) and the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) 2001 EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database, Universite Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium, link
1314 Kanamori, Hiroo 1977 The energy release of great earthquakes. Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 82, p. 2981-2987.