M5.0 earthquake 8 km WNW of Guaca, Colombia
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck 8 km WNW of Guaca, Colombia on Wed, Apr 17, 1974, 8:19 PM GMT-5 (01:19 UTC), 24 km (15 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.0 (mb, body-wave), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 1974-04-18 01:19:22 UTC
- Depth
- 24.0 km (14.9 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 6.895° N, 72.932° W
- Region
- Colombia
- Strongest shaking
- IV, light shaking
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Magnitude estimates
Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.
| Mag. | Scale | Computed by | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.0 | mb, body-wave | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.19 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.2 |
Deaths and damage
From NOAA NCEI’s Significant Earthquake Database (record 4655), matched to this event by time and place.
- Deaths
- 4
- Injuries
- 10
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses damaged
- 120
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
- IV, light shaking
- 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.
- Stations used
- 61
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.0 and up: 2 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.98 km NNW of Cepitá, Colombia · 19147 days ago · 159 km deep · 11 km away
- 4.43 km ENE of Cepitá, Colombia · 19141 days ago · 162 km deep · 14 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayColombia earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0000606 (also filed as iscgem749477, atlas19740418011922). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 11:29 AM UTC.