May 4, 1910 Earthquake: Cartago, San Jose, Costa Rica
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Cartago, San Jose, Costa Rica on May 4, 1910 at 23:50:00 UTC. It killed 700 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
- May 4, 1910
- Time
- 23:50:00 UTC
- Place
- Cartago, San Jose, Costa Rica
- Magnitude
- 6.4 (Ms)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 10.000° N, 84.000° W
- Country
- Costa Rica
- Region
- Central America
The toll
- Deaths
- 700
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Very many (over 1,000)
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.
600-700 dead, many injured (reference #1177)
Reference #14016 states: The death toll is estimated to have reached 700; the city of Cartago, which had suffered damage from the April 13 earthquake, was completely destroyed. The buildings that had remained standing after the April 13 earthquake collapsed completely, including all churches, convents, schools, and other public buildings. Not a single house remained standing; most suffered structural damage and were declared uninhabitable. he town of Paraíso was devastated. Most of the houses fell with the earthquake
Reference #1051 lists 1,750 deaths on 13 April (though likely this number is for the 04 May 1910 main shock event)
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #1177 White, R.A., and D.H. Harlow (1985). Catalog of significant shallow earthquakes of Central America since 1900. IASPEI/UNESCO Working Group on Historical Seismograms and Earthquakes, August 27-28, 1985, Tokyo; Preliminary Proceedings, p. 453-459.
- #1103 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (1935). Earthquake History Vicinity of Panama Canal and Adjacent Region, Manuscript MSS-3 C.
- #1051 Munchener Ruckversicherungs-Gesellschaft (1998). World Map of Natural Hazards, Munich Federal Republic of Germany
- #14016 Red Sismologica Nacional (University of Costa Rica) (2015). Terremoto de Cartago, 4 de mayo de 1910. Published 11 Feb 2015. Link
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- 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
- December 22, 1990, Alajuela, Santiago DE Puriscal, Costa Rica
- July 10, 1993, Turrialba, Cartago, Costa Rica
- July 3, 1983, San Jose, Costa Rica
- November 13, 2017, Jaco, Costa Rica
- September 5, 2012, Nicoya, Costa Rica
- September 2, 1841, Cartago, Nicaragua, Costa Rica
- December 30, 1888, San Jose, Ala Juela, Heredia, Costa Rica
More
Significant earthquakes of 1910The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1910Recent 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 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 2904.