The 1894 San Juan earthquake took place in the
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
San Juan,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, on 27 October 1894, at about 07:30 PM. It was the most powerful earthquake recorded in Argentina, with magnitude 7.5 on the
surface wave magnitude scale. Its
epicenter
The epicenter, epicentre () or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates.
Surface damage
Before the instrumental pe ...
was located to the northwest of San Juan, approximately at , and at a depth of 30 km.
The maximum perceived intensity for the earthquake was IX (''Violent'') on the
Mercalli intensity scale. It caused severe damage and about 100 casualties in San Juan and the province of
La Rioja
La Rioja () is an autonomous community and province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other cities and towns in the province include Calahorra, Arnedo, Alfaro, Haro, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, an ...
, and also caused minor damage in
Catamarca,
Córdoba,
San Luis and
Mendoza, up to 500 km away from the epicenter.
See also
*
List of earthquakes in Argentina
This is a list of earthquakes in Argentina.
* Details are approximate for old events.
* Magnitude is measured in the Richter magnitude scale.
* Intensity is measured in the Mercalli intensity scale.
* Depth is given in miles.
1600-1899
20th c ...
*
List of historical earthquakes
Historical earthquakes is a list of significant earthquakes known to have occurred prior to the beginning of the 20th century. As the events listed here occurred before routine instrumental recordings, they rely mainly on the analysis of written ...
References
* Instituto Nacional de Prevención Sísmica
''Listado de Terremotos Históricos''.
Further reading
*
1894
Events January–March
* January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire.
* January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United S ...
1894 in Argentina
Earthquakes in San Juan Province, Argentina
San Juan, 1894
October 1894 events
1894 disasters in Argentina
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