M6.5 Earthquake 70 km W of Tarauacá, Brazil — January 28, 2024
2024-01-28 09:38:56 UTC (2024-01-28) · approx. 4:38 AM UTC-5 local
Felt by 5 people across nearby locations.
On January 28, 2024 at 09:38 UTC, a magnitude 6.5 deep-focus earthquake struck 70 km W of Tarauacá, Brazil, at a depth of 621.1 km and coordinates -8.2360°, -71.4005°. The earthquake was reported felt by 5 peopleacross nearby locations, with a maximum shaking intensity of Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) 2.4 (weak). The USGS PAGER system issued a green alert level for this event, indicating no significant casualties or damage expected. This earthquake was detected by 237 seismic stations with excellent location accuracy and was assigned a USGS significance rating of 652, making it a moderate-impact event. The nearest populated place is Tarauaca (population 16,526).
Physical scale: An earthquake of magnitude 6.5 releases seismic energy equivalent to roughly 85 kilotons of TNT. Empirical fault-scaling laws (Wells & Coppersmith, 1994) estimate the subsurface rupture length at approximately 18 km — a useful intuition for the size of the slip patch on the fault.
Nearest Populated Places
ShakeMap — predicted shaking intensity
Modeled ground-motion intensity contoured on the Modified Mercalli scale (MMI). Computed by the USGS from the moment-tensor solution and regional ground-motion prediction equations.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey ShakeMap. View interactive ShakeMap on USGS
Did You Feel It? — community-reported shaking
Aggregated felt-report intensity from 5 citizen responses to the USGS Did You Feel It? system. Each colored zone represents the average MMI from reports in that area.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey Did You Feel It?. View on USGS · submit your own report
Population exposure (USGS PAGER)
Estimated population that experienced each level of shaking. Based on the USGS PAGER rapid impact assessment, which combines ShakeMap output with global population grids.
| Shaking intensity (MMI) | Description | Population exposed |
|---|
Earthquake Details
-71.4005°E
Technical Information
Common Questions
How strong was the magnitude 6.5 earthquake near Tarauacá, Brazil?
The magnitude 6.5 earthquake that struck 70 km W of Tarauacá, Brazil on January 28, 2024 at 09:38 UTC had a depth of 621.1 km. It was felt by 5 people with maximum shaking intensity of MMI 2.4 (weak). For context, this was a strong earthquake capable of causing significant damage.
Where did the earthquake occur?
The earthquake epicenter was located at -8.2360°, -71.4005°, which is 70 km W of Tarauacá, Brazil. The nearest populated place is Tarauaca (population 16,526).
Were there aftershocks?
Aftershock activity is monitored continuously by the USGS. Aftershock sequences from magnitude 6.5 earthquakes can continue for weeks to months and gradually diminish over time.
Actions
Authoritative source: USGS event page (event ID: us7000lui3). All scientific values on this page are sourced verbatim from the USGS feed.
Cite this page: EarthquakeTracker.org. (2024, January 28, 2024). M6.5 Earthquake 70 km W of Tarauacá, Brazil — January 28, 2024. Retrieved March 30, 2024 from https://www.earthquaketracker.org/earthquakes/event/us7000lui3/