May 11, 1948 Earthquake: Arequipa,moquegua,tacna,torata,quellaveco, Peru
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck Arequipa,moquegua,tacna,torata,quellaveco, Peru on May 11, 1948 at 08:55:46 UTC, 58 km below the surface. It killed 1 person.
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 11, 1948
- Time
- 08:55:46 UTC
- Place
- Arequipa,moquegua,tacna,torata,quellaveco, Peru
- Magnitude
- 6.5 (Mw)
- Focal depth
- 58 km (36 mi)
- Intensity
- 9 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 17.298° S, 70.373° W
- Country
- Peru
The toll
- Deaths
- 1
- Injuries
- 66
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
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 #1111 and #13779 lists epicenter May 11, 1948, 08:56 UTC, 17.4 S, 71 W, depth 60 km, magnitude 7.1, MMI VII, 1 death, 66 injured, moderate damage.
Reference #1208 lists epicenter May 11, 1948, 08:55:41 UTC, 17.5 S, 70.25 W, depth 70 km, MMI 9, magnitude 7.3 Ms.
Reference #45 lists 4 killed and 50 injured. Slight property damage in Arequipa, Moquegua, and Tacna. Depth about 70 km. Mag. 7.1.
Reference #10476 (v.10) lists 1948-05-11 08:55:46.66 UTC, 17.298 S 70.373 W, magnitude 6.48 Mw
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- August 13, 1868, Arica, Chile
- February 19, 1600, Volcan Huaynaputina, Peru
- September 18, 1833, Arica, Tacna, Chile, Peru, Peru-Chile
- May 13, 1784, Arequipa,camana,moquegua,tambo, Peru
- November 24, 1604, Arica, Arequipa, Chile, Peru
- January 22, 1582, Socabaya,arequipa, Peru
- August 8, 1987, Arica, Iquique, Chile
- August 13, 1987, Arequipa, Tacna, Arica, Peru, Chile
- October 9, 1955, Mungui,la Union Prov,arequipa,toro,cotahuasi, Peru
- July 7, 2001, Arequipa, Arica, Peru
- August 23, 1715, Arica, Moquegua, Arequipa, Chile, Peru
- October 1, 2005, Moquegua, Peru
- May 6, 2010, Tacna, Peru
- September 20, 1860, Tacna, Peru
- February 6, 1716, Pueblo DE Torata IN Tacna, Peru
More
Significant earthquakes of 1948The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1948Recent 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 3875.