January 19, 2021 Earthquake: San Juan Province, Argentina

Name: January 19, 2021 Earthquake: San Juan Province, Argentina
Start: 2021-01-19
Location: San Juan Province, Argentina

January 19, 2021 · M6.4 · $250 million

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck San Juan Province, Argentina on January 19, 2021 at 02:46:22 UTC, 20 km below the surface.

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: January 19, 2021
Time: 02:46:22 UTC
Place: San Juan Province, Argentina
Magnitude: 6.4 (Mw)
Focal depth: 20 km (12 mi)
Intensity: VI, strong shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
Tsunami: None recorded
Epicenter: 31.830° S, 68.806° W
Country: Argentina
Region: South America
USGS record: The USGS’s page for this earthquake

The toll

Injuries: 14
Damage: $250 million
Houses damaged: 600

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 happened

The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.

Fourteen people injured, several buildings damaged or destroyed and roads cracked in the San Juan area. Seiches observed as far away as Santiago, Chile.

From the USGS event page for us7000d18q. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.

Magnitude estimates

The magnitudes the USGS catalog lists for this earthquake, by scale and by who computed them. NCEI’s own scales are in the table above.

Mag.	Scale	Computed by	Notes
6.4	Mww, W-phase moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.055 · 32 stations
6.49	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
6.6	Mi	NOAA National Tsunami Warning Center	Reviewed · 21 stations
6.6	Mi	NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center	Reviewed · 21 stations
6.5	Mi	NOAA National Tsunami Warning Center	First automatic solution · Reviewed · 17 stations
6.4	Mwb, body-wave moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Moment tensor · Reviewed
6.4	Mww, W-phase moment	USGS, automatic first solution	First automatic solution · Confirmed
6.45	Mw, moment	USGS finite-fault model	Finite-fault model · Reviewed
6.46	Mw, moment	USGS finite-fault model	Finite-fault model · Reviewed

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

caused serious damage to more than 600 houses in different communes (references #12861)

5 injured and $250 million in losses (reference #13727)

Sources NCEI cites

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

#1053 National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) (1971 to 2013). Preliminary Determination of Epicenters (PDE), a weekly and monthly publication, National Earthquake Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Golden, Colorado, 1971 to 2013.
#12860 Diario de Cuyo (Argentina) (2021). Al menos 11 personas mas con heridas sufridas durante el sismo: 5 de ellos son ninos. Published 19 January 2021. Link.
#12861 Diario de Cuyo (Argentina) (2021). Cerraron el Auditorio indefinidamente por los daños en el edificio tras el terremoto. Published 10 February 2021. Link.
#13727 Gallagher Re (2024). Earthquake data (since 2002) including economic losses. Gallagher Re. Provided 31 January 2024.

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

Significant earthquakes of 2021 The 2000s Every quake the USGS located in 2021 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 10530. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event us7000d18q, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.