November 5, 1884 Earthquake: Aquadas [aguadulce], Pacora, Panama

Name: November 5, 1884 Earthquake: Aquadas [aguadulce], Pacora, Panama
Start: 1884-11-05
Location: Aquadas [aguadulce], Pacora, Panama

November 5, 1884 · M7.5

A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Aquadas [aguadulce], Pacora, Panama on November 5, 1884. It caused a tsunami.

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: November 5, 1884
Place: Aquadas [aguadulce], Pacora, Panama
Magnitude: 7.5 (Ms)
Intensity: VI, strong shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
Tsunami: Yes: the tsunami it caused
Epicenter: 7.500° N, 79.000° W
Country: Panama
Region: Central America

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.

November, 1884, on the night of the 5th-6th. There was a destructive earthquake on the Panama Isthmus. It was felt at a number of cities in Colombia, in particular, a church was damaged at Cali. In Panama, Acada [Acandi?] and Paconia suffered especially. There, a seismic wave [it is not clear whether this was an earthquake or a tsunami] destroyed churches, state buildings and private homes. (reference #415)

November 5, 1884. Panama, Aquadelc, Pacoria intensity II which corresponds to buildings may be unroofed or shattered and some may fall, the ground may be badly cracked in places and small landslips occur. (reference #1055)

November 5, 1884. Aquadalec; Pacoria; A church and some houses damaged. (reference #1908)

November 6, 1884, 05:00 UTC, 3.5 N, 76.4 W, magnitude 5, intensity VI, lights seen, sound heard and ground waves observed. (reference #1205)

November 6, 1884, 3.5 N, 76.4 W. (reference #1219)

November 6, 1884, earthquake felt in Cali. (reference #1118)

Sources NCEI cites

The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.

#1908 Montandon, Frederic (1962). "Les Megaseismes en Amerique, Revue pour l'Etude des Calamities." Revue pour l'e'tude des calamite's; bulletin de'l'Union internationale de secours, p. 57-97.
#1055 Milne, John (1911). Catalogue of Destructive Earthquakes [7 to 1899 A.D.], Report of the 81st Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Portsmouth, London, United Kingdom, p. 649-740.
#1118 Ramirez, Jesus Emilio, S.J. (1975). Historia de los Terremotos en Colombia. Instituto Geografico Agustin Codazzi. Subdireccion de Investigaciones y Divulgacion Geografica, Republica de Colombia, Second Edition, 218 p.
#1219 Ocola, Leonidas (1984). Proyecto de Sismicidad Andina SISAN, vol. 2 - Catalogos Sismicos: Republica de Colombia, Instituto Geofisico del Peru, Geofisica Aplicada, Lima, Peru.
#1205 Askew, B.L., and S.T. Algermissen (1985). Catalog of Earthquakes for South America, Hypocenter and Intensity Data, vol. 4 - Colombia, Centro Regional de Sismologia para America del Sur, Lima, Peru.
#415 Soloviev, S.L., and Ch.N. Go (1975). A catalogue of tsunamis on the eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean [dates include 1513-1968]. Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Nauka Publishing House, Moscow, 204 p. [Canadian Translation of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences no. 5078, 1984, translation available from Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, National Research Council, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A OS2, 293 p.]

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

Significant earthquakes of 1884 The 1800s Recent earthquakes near here This 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 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 2334.