December 24, 1930 Earthquake: La Poma, Argentina

The village of La Poma, situated in the Andes Mountains, was laid waste by a severe earthquake which occurred at 3:00 a.m. on December 24th. After a day of what the inhabitants call "earthquake weather", loud subterranean rumblings were heard just before 3:00 a.m. They suddently burst into what one writer calls "a tremendous crash of underground thunder," accompanied by the shaking of the earth. This first shock did no damage, but so frightened the populace that they rushed into the streets, thus very materially decreasing the probable eath-rate. Within two or three minutes came the most violent shock, which leveled all the buildings of the village except two. Thirty-nine deaths were caused by the shocks, as were many injuries. All of the state of La Poma felt the shocks and some slight damage was caused in the village of San Antonio de los Cobres. Six other earthquakes occurred at La Poma on December 25th. (reference #2668)

December 24, 1930, 06:02:47 UTC, 25 S, 66 W, magnitude 6 (reference #130)

The most significant damage was located in La Poma, where there were landslides and cracking of houses. Thirty-one people were reported dead and 70 injured. The earthquake was felt throughout northwestern Argentina. It was estimated to have an intensity of VIII Mercalli. (reference #14044)

1930-12-24 06:02:46.52 UTC, 25.102 S 65.419 W, magnitude 6.12 Mw (reference #10476, v.11)

Note: damaging earthquake in the area on 23 Sept 1930