December 24, 1937 Earthquake: Huancabamba,oxapampa,el Progreso,san David, Peru
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck Huancabamba,oxapampa,el Progreso,san David, Peru on December 24, 1937 at 06:20:43 UTC, 10 km below the surface. It killed 15 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
- December 24, 1937
- Time
- 06:20:43 UTC
- Place
- Huancabamba,oxapampa,el Progreso,san David, Peru
- Magnitude
- 6.5 (Mw)
- Focal depth
- 10 km (6 mi)
- Intensity
- 10 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 10.637° S, 76.562° W
- Country
- Peru
The toll
- Deaths
- 15
- Missing
- Few (about 1 to 50) with its tsunami and other effects
- Injuries
- Few (about 1 to 50)
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 92
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.
Reference #1208 lists epicenter Dec 24, 1937, 06:20 UTC, 10.5 S, 76.5 W, magnitude 6.2, MMI X.
Reference #1111 lists epicenter Dec 24, 1937, 06:23 UTC, 10.5 S, 75.5 W, magnitude 6.3, depth 10 km, 15 deaths, 92 houses destroyed, 20+ injured
Reference #10476 lists epicenter Dec 24, 1937, 06:20:43.87 UTC, 10.637 S, 75.562 W, magnitude 6.46 (Mw)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- 1654, Lima, Chile, Peru
- 1657, Lima,callao, Peru
- October 29, 1746, Lima, Callao, Peru
- May 24, 1940, Peru
- February 14, 1970, Panao,chaclla,quero,ayllamarca,la Linda, Peru
- January 5, 1974, Lima, Yauyos, Peru
- April 18, 1993, Lima, Peru
- January 8, 1865, Peru
- May 12, 2022, Lima, Callao, Chilca, Peru
- September 24, 1963, Huayllacayan,cajacay,malyas,malvas,huaraz, Peru
- January 11, 1986, Huarmey, Casma, Huarax, Chimbote, Peru
- June 15, 2025, Lima, Callao, Peru
- July 1, 2008, Oxapampa, Huancabamba, Central, Peru
- September 20, 1897, Peru
- January 12, 1914, Callao, Peru
More
Significant earthquakes of 1937The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1937Recent 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 3605.