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Earthquakes I have felt
Diary of Earthquakes
Largest Intensities I have felt
                 
Date-Time GMT
Earthquake Location
Lat
Long
Mag
Depth (km)
Location where I felt the quake
Hypocentral Distance (km)
MMI I felt
03-April-1983-02:50
15 km NE of Golfito
8.72
-83.26
7.2 Ms
26
Turrialba, Costa Rica
142
V

One of the first memories I have from my childhood. The earthquake woke us up. The shaking was very strong and I didn't understand what was happening until my parents took my sisters and I to the yard. They explained us it was an earthquake. We slept inside my dad’s bus the rest of that night cause we were afraid of aftershocks.

 

Date-Time GMT
Earthquake Location
Lat
Long
Mag
Depth (km)
Location where I felt the quake
Hypocentral Distance (km)
MMI I felt
03-July-1983-17:14
14 km N San Isidro de Pérez Zeledón, Costa Rica
9.55
-83.66
6.3 Ms
14
Turrialba, Costa Rica
42
VI

I was playing in the garage. There was a strong foreshock (5.0 Mw, int V). My mom came to me and took me to the back yard. Shortly, the main shock occured. At that time my mom hugged me and my sisters. I saw the trees and the playground shaking violently. I remember the noise of the things shaken. During the earthquake I was curious to see the river that runs behind the yard of our house. I told that to my mom, but she didn’t allow me to go there, until the quake stopped.

 

Date-Time GMT
Earthquake Location
Lat
Long
Mag
Depth (km)
Location where I felt the quake
Hypocentral Distance (km)
MMI I felt
25-March-1990-13:23
19 km al sureste de Cóbano, Costa Rica
9.62
-84.93
7.0 Mw
24,2
Turrialba, Costa Rica
141
V

There was a strong foreshock at 7:16 am local time (6.2 Mw, int IV) that woke up us, but we stayed inside the house. My mom put the radio on to listen “Radio Reloj” which is the radio station we used to like for listening news reports Seven minutes after the foreshock, while listening the felt report from the city of Limon, there was electrical power failure. The main shock started at that time. We ran to the yard. The tress were shaking strongly. I could feel waves on the ground.

 

Date-Time GMT
Earthquake Location
Lat
Long
Mag
Depth (km)
Location where I felt the quake
Hypocentral Distance (km)
MMI I felt
22-Dec-1990-17:28
Piedras Negras de Mora, Costa Rica
9.86
-84.31
6.0 Mw
6.5
Turrialba, Costa Rica
69
V

I was taking a shower. The doors of the bathtub started to shake violently. I realized there was an earthquake. I tried to put my clothes on. The rest of my family run to the backyard. My dad realized I wasn't there, and ran back inside the house and knocked the restroom door. At that point I was able to put only my underwear. I took a towel and run half-naked to the yard.

 

Date-Time GMT
Earthquake Location
Lat
Long
Mag
Depth (km)
Location where I felt the quake
Hypocentral Distance (km)
MMI I felt
22-April-1991-21:57
36 km SW of Limón, Costa Rica
9.69
-83.07
7.7 Mw
10
Turrialba, Costa Rica
72
VII-VIII

This is the largest earthquake I have ever felt. I was about to do a homework from high school. I was laying on my bed. I heard a terrific noise and my mom screaming earthquake, EARTHQUAKE!! The quake started violently. I remember the noise of everything falling down, glasses, pictures, etc. Somehow I was able to get to the backyard running on the floor covered by glasses and broken things. Once in the yard, the shaking was extremely strong that we couldn’t even walk. We then hugged each other and started to pray. The wall that separate our yard from the neighbors was moving as if it were made of paper and huge cracks formed on it. Our goose and chickens were making strange noises, because they were also scared. The earthquake finally “stopped” but a sequence of strong aftershocks started. There were earthquakes every minute. Some of them were strong enough for objects to fall off from shelves. The refrigerator, beds and all big furniture was displayed from there usual positions. My mom opened the door of the refrigerator to get something, and all the food fall down to the floor. The restroom was flooded because the water went outside the toilet. Some minutes after the main event, we went to my grandparents house, which is located very close to our house. We stayed there for about two hours until it got dark. There were no electricity. There were several landslides in the mountains and big cracks on the wall of the houses of our neighborhood. Our house suffered minor damage, only small cracks on the walls. It took a day to clean the house, everything was also covered by dust. We slept outside the house for one entire week, because aftershocks were so frequent and strong. Dozens of houses, public buildings, and bridges were damage or destroyed at my town. There were also visible cracks on the roads and a lot of landslides in the mountains. In the Caribbean region, to he east of my town, 48 people were killed, mostly because of landslides and extensive damage occurred in the epicentral area. A small tsunami was produced in the Caribbean that mostly affected Panama. About 1.5m of uplift was recorded along the coast of the Caribbean sea of Costa Rica.

 

Date-Time GMT
Earthquake Location
Lat
Long
Mag
Depth (km)
Location where I felt the quake
Hypocentral Distance (km)
MMI I felt
02-March-1992-01:54
Naranjo, Costa Rica
10.11
-84.42
6,0 Mw
85
Turrialba, Costa Rica
119
V

My sisters were preparing for a high school party. This earthquake was strong, and also very long. There was a short blackout. We all went to the yard.

 

Date-Time GMT
Earthquake Location
Lat
Long
Mag
Depth (km)
Location where I felt the quake
Hypocentral Distance (km)
MMI I felt
10-July-1993-23:19
Pejivaye, Costa Rica
9.75
-83.69
5.9 Mw
13.2
San Jose, Costa Rica
47
V

I was at my cousin’s wedding in San Jose. Unfortunately, I wasn’t in my hometown Turrialba, which was only 21 km away from the epicenter of this event. There were a couple of earthquakes during the week before the main event on July 10, so my sister Mildred and I were actually expecting something bigger. Anyhow, we had to go to San Jose, for my cousins wedding. The earthquake was strong, I could see the lamps of the church swinging from one side to other side. The priest told us to calm down and stay inside the church, but the quake started even stronger. No-one cared about what the priest just had said and we all ran outside the church. After ten minutes the wedding continued but it was very quick. We didn’t stayed much for the party cause we heard from the news the earthquake was close to Turrialba. The intensity in my hometown was VI-VII. We got home around 7 pm. The house look like after the Limon earthquake, with all objects on the floor. That year my parents were re-building our house. There were a small provisional structure to storage materials that collapsed in the yard. A pile of bricks also collapsed. Our house also got some cracks on the walls, but nothing serious.

 

Date-Time GMT
Earthquake Location
Lat
Long
Mag
Depth (km)
Location where I felt the quake
Hypocentral Distance (km)
MMI I felt
20-Agu-199-10:02
40 km S of Quepos, Costa Rica
8.98
-84.15
6.9 Mw
24
San Pedro, Costa Rica
109
V

I was sleeping in my apartment in San Jose. I lived with my sister Silja, we were both in college. The earthquake woke us up. It was very strong, and I could feel the shaking when I was walking. We ran the common area in front of the apartments where we found the rest of tenants of our building looking for a safer area. We waited some minutes and got back to our apartment. We felt at least three decent aftershocks during the rest of that night.

 

Date-Time GMT
Earthquake Location
Lat
Long
Mag
Depth (km)
Location where I felt the quake
Hypocentral Distance (km)
MMI I felt
03-Aug-2002-02:39
22 SW Puerto Armuelles, Panama
8.11
-82.97
5.9 Mw
20.0
Paso Canoas , Costa Rica-Panama border
54
V

I was drinking some beers in a bar in Paso Canoas, with some colleagues. We were in the epicentral area of the 6.2 Mw Burica earthquake with the goal of collecting intensities for that event. The earthquake was very short but very strong. I stood up and waited. I could see glasses and bottles shaking in the bar. Small objects fall off from shelves in the surrounded stores.

 

Date-Time GMT
Earthquake Location
Lat
Long
Mag
Depth (km)
Location where I felt the quake
Hypocentral Distance (km)
MMI I felt
25-Dec-2003-07:11
7 km E of Armuelles , Panamá
8.27
-82.80
6.6 Mw
26
Turrialba, Costa Rica
208
V

I was staying at my parents house in Turrialba. We just went to bed after a Christmas dinner at my grandparents house, also in Turrialba. The earthquake woke us up, we stayed a little bit in front of our rooms in the second floor, but the earthquake went stronger. We then ran to the first floor. It was pouring outside so we stayed in the living room until the quake stooped. The Christmas tree was decently shaking and I could feel the direction of the shaking very well on the ground. We didn’t feel aftershocks.

 

Other Notorious Earthquakes I have felt

(This Table is still under construction)

Date-Time GMT
Earthquake Location
Lat
Long
Mag
Depth (km)
Location where I felt the quake
Hypocentral Distance (km)
MMI I felt
03-Nov-2001-01:43
Chillan, Chile
-36.25
-71.25
5.1 Mw
86.0
Concepcion, Chile
?
III

This is the first earthquake I felt outside Costa Rica. I was staying in the 8th floor of the hotel...

 

Date-Time GMT
Earthquake Location
Lat
Long
Mag
Depth (km)
Location where I felt the quake
Hypocentral Distance (km)
MMI I felt
13-Jan-2001-17:33 El Salvador
13.11
-89.39
7.7 Mw
39.0
San Pedro, Costa Rica
681
III

I was at the lab when...

 

Date-Time GMT
Earthquake Location
Lat
Long
Mag
Depth (km)
Location where I felt the quake
Hypocentral Distance (km)
MMI I felt
30-Jan-2001-04:31 San Pedro, Costa Rica
9.94
-84.06
4.2 Mw
5.2
San Pedro, Costa Rica
5.2
IV

Closest hipocentral distance I have ever been.

 

Date-Time GMT
Earthquake Location
Lat
Long
Mag
Depth (km)
Location where I felt the quake
Hypocentral Distance (km)
MMI I felt
31-Jul-2002-17:00
53 km S Puerto Armuelles, Panama
7.83
-82.87
6.2 Mw
20.0
San Pedro, Costa Rica
268
IV

 

 

Date-Time GMT
Earthquake Location
Lat
Long
Mag
Depth (km)
Location where I felt the quake
Hypocentral Distance (km)
MMI I felt
20-Nov-2004-08:07 9 km NW de Quepos
9.52
-84.22
6.4 Mw
25.0
Michigan, USA
?
I

I didn't feel this event... but

 

 

Most Recent Earthquakes I have felt

Date-Time GMT
Earthquake Location
Lat
Long
Mag
Depth (km)
Location where I felt the quake
Hypocentral Distance (km)
MMI I felt
28-Dec-2005-15:27
Sabanillas de Acosta, Costa Rica
9.77
-84.27
5.1 Mw
43.0
San Ramon, Costa Rica
59
IV

I was staying at my best friends Mariandre, as I usually do for some days during my Christmas break. I was sleeping in the living room, on the floor. The earthquake woke me up. I could se the Christmas tree shaking strongly. I took no action and stayed where I was sleeping. My friend Mariandre, ran to the yard as fast as she could. She does a great job doing that during earthquakes. Apparently, that virtue comes from her mother. Everyone felt the earthquake in San Ramon.

 

Date-Time GMT
Earthquake Location
Lat
Long
Mag
Depth (km)
Location where I felt the quake
Hypocentral Distance (km)
MMI I felt
12-Dec-2006- 08:34 15 km SE Jacó, Costa Rica
9.51
-84.52
4.7 Mw
32.0
Sabanilla, Costa Rica
78
III

I was staying at my aunts hose in Sabanilla, because the following day I had my Visa appointment at the US Embassy. Before the earthquake I woke up and went to the restroom. As soon as I got back into bed, the earthquake started. I could hear a noise produced by the house shaking. All dogs of the neighborhood were burking. Mariandre and one of my sisters sent me text messages immediately telling me that they had felt the quake. My cousin Catalina, who was staying at the same house, didn't feel the quake. I took no action and stayed in bed.

 

Date-Time GMT
Earthquake Location
Lat
Long
Mag
Depth (km)
Location where I felt the quake
Hypocentral Distance (km)
MMI I felt
14-Dec-2006-08:07 5 km al NW de Turrialba, Costa Rica
9.93
83.72
3.8 Mw
2.3
Turrialba, Costa Rica
6
IV

One of the closest events I have ever felt. I was staying at my parents house. There was an strong and horrible noise, like an explosion, that woke me up. Right after that, I felt an strong shake. I tried to run away from my bed, but I was confused in the darkness. I finally turn on the lights. The quake had passed at that time, it was actually very short by strong. My parents were already at the door of their bedroom. Everyone felt this earthquake in Turrialba, people commented the strong noise before the quake.