January 22, 1582 Earthquake: Socabaya,arequipa, Peru
A magnitude 8.2 earthquake struck Socabaya,arequipa, Peru on January 22, 1582 at 16:30 UTC, 30 km below the surface. It killed 35 people.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- January 22, 1582
- Time
- 16:30 UTC
- Place
- Socabaya,arequipa, Peru
- Magnitude
- 8.2 (Ms)
- Focal depth
- 30 km (19 mi)
- Intensity
- 10 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 16.600° S, 71.600° W
- Country
- Peru
The toll
- Deaths
- 35
- Injuries
- Many (about 101 to 1,000)
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 300
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.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
January 22, 1582, coast of Arequipa, Peru, 17 S, 72.5 W, intensity VIII-IX at Arequipa, intensity VII-VIII at Sihuas, intensity VII at Camana, tsunami grade I. (reference #1211)
January 22, 1582, 16:30 UTC, 16.6 71.6 W, intensity X, casualties. (reference #1208)
January 22, 1582, Intensity nearly X of Mercalli Seale . Radius of the damaged zone about 1000 km . Almost total destruction of buildings, churches and channels of irrigation. Many persons were killed and injured. (reference #1102)
January 22, 1582, 16:30 UTC, 16.6 S, 71.6 W, depth 30 km, magnitude 8.24, intensity IX. (references #1218 and #1221)
January 22, 1582. On 22 January (10 a.m. that day), a major earthquake occurred in southern Peru, which devastated the city of Arequipa (Mendoza, 1665). Silgado (1978) indicates that 300 houses collapsed and 35 people died, the seismic intensity in the town of Socabaya was grade X and in Arequipa it was grade IX. (reference #14060)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- February 19, 1600, Volcan Huaynaputina, Peru
- September 18, 1833, Arica, Tacna, Chile, Peru, Peru-Chile
- May 13, 1784, Arequipa,camana,moquegua,tambo, Peru
- November 24, 1604, Arica, Arequipa, Chile, Peru
- July 10, 1821, Camana, Ocona, Caraveli, Peru
- July 23, 1991, Maca, Chivay, Yanque, Peru
- January 13, 1960, Arequipa,chuquibamba,caraveli,cotahuasi, Peru
- January 15, 1958, Arequipa, Peru
- February 16, 1979, Arequipa, Peru
- August 15, 2016, Arequipa, Peru
- October 9, 1955, Mungui,la Union Prov,arequipa,toro,cotahuasi, Peru
- July 8, 2008, Arequipa, Peru
- April 3, 1999, Camana, Arequipa, Peru
- July 7, 2001, Arequipa, Arica, Peru
- May 11, 1948, Arequipa,moquegua,tacna,torata,quellaveco, Peru
More
Significant earthquakes of 1582The 1500sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 776.