March 3, 1882 Earthquake: Alajuela, San Jose, Heredia, Costa Rica
A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck Alajuela, San Jose, Heredia, Costa Rica on March 3, 1882.
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
- March 3, 1882
- Place
- Alajuela, San Jose, Heredia, Costa Rica
- Magnitude
- 5.8 (Ms)
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 9.200° N, 84.190° W
- Country
- Costa Rica
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Some (about 51 to 100)
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.
Considerable damage with fallen houses (reference #14054)
Note: early reports (e.g., ref #14055) indicated severe damage and thousands killed. However, later reports (e.g. ref #14056) corrected these exaggerations
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- May 4, 1910, Cartago, San Jose, Costa Rica
- April 22, 1991, Limon, Pandora, Panama, Costa Rica
- December 30, 1952, Costa Rica
- April 14, 1973, Tilaran, Arenal, Rio Chiquito, Costa Rica
- January 8, 2009, La Paz, Costa Rica
- September 1, 1955, Costa Rica
- November 20, 2004, San Jose, Parrita, Quepos, Costa Rica
- December 5, 1941, Costa Rica-Panama
- April 3, 1983, W, SE, Panama, Costa Rica
- November 13, 2017, Jaco, Costa Rica
- July 3, 1983, San Jose, Costa Rica
- December 22, 1990, Alajuela, Santiago DE Puriscal, Costa Rica
- July 10, 1993, Turrialba, Cartago, Costa Rica
- September 5, 2012, Nicoya, Costa Rica
- December 25, 2003, Puerto Armuelles, Panama-Costa Rica
More
Significant earthquakes of 1882The 1800sRecent 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 10887.