M6.5 earthquake 14 km SSE of Burica, Panama
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 14 km SSE of Burica, Panama on Mon, Mar 12, 1962, 6:40 AM GMT-5 (11:40 UTC), 25 km (16 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 6.5 (Mw, moment), strong
- Magnitude from
- ISC-GEM global catalog
- Local time
- UTC
- 1962-03-12 11:40:18 UTC
- Depth
- 25.0 km (15.5 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 7.917° N, 82.818° W
- Region
- Panama
- Strongest shaking
- VI, strong shaking
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Deaths and damage
From NOAA NCEI’s Significant Earthquake Database (record 6403), matched to this event by time and place.
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
Shaking
The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.
- Strongest estimated
- VI, strong shaking
- Peak ground acceleration
- 17.7% of gravity
- Peak ground velocity
- 2.8 cm/s
- Map
- Automatic
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.27
- Depth from
- From location
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 3.5 and up: 1 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
Before
Earthquakes todayPanama earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event iscgem874353 (also filed as atlas19620312114015). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 9:53 PM UTC.