September 5, 2012 Tsunami: Costa Rica
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake began at Costa Rica on September 5, 2012 at 14:42:07 UTC. The water rose as high as 0.16 meters. Its effects were recorded at 5 places in at least 3 countries. It killed 2 people, counting the earthquake or eruption that caused it.
Where the waves reached
The source (white) and every runup with a place, colored by the water height recorded there. A ring is a runup NCEI marks doubtful.
- Under 1 m
- 1 to 3 m
- 3 to 10 m
- 10 to 30 m
- 30 m and more
- Height not recorded
The tsunami
- Date
- September 5, 2012, 14:42:07 UTC
- Source
- Costa Rica
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7.6, 35 km deep
- Maximum water height
- 0.16 m (0.5 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 5
- Warning
- Regional Tsunami Warning issued by PTWC for areas without a warning system
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 10.085° N, 85.315° W
The toll
- Deaths
- 2 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Injuries
- 20 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- $45 million with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- Some (about 51 to 100) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
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.
Most of the rupture area of this earthquake was on land, causing uplift along almost the entire western coast of the Nicoya Peninsula, with a maximum value of 0.53 m (Protti et al., 2013 ). The inhabitants of coastal areas of the Peninsula told us that at the time of the earthquake the sea receded visibly, so they immediately moved to higher areas. The retreat of the sea could have been due mainly to the uplift of the peninsula due to co-seismic deformation, and the fact that the rupture zone was mainly on land caused the tsunami to be very small, which, added to the fact that people moved away from the coast immediately, explains why the tsunami was not reported in more places. (reference #13478)
Every runup
Nearest the source first. Heights are above sea level at the time; a tide gauge reads half the wave’s full height.
| Where | Country | Km from source | Water height, m | Inland, m | Measured by | First wave, UTC | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coyote | Costa Rica | 33 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Langosta | Costa Rica | 63 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Baltra Island | Ecuador | 1,287 | 0.06 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 5, 16:46 | ||
| Santa Cruz Island | Ecuador | 1,320 | 0.16 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 5, 16:30 | ||
| D43413 Bpr, 360 NM SW Acapulco | Mexico | 1,595 | Deep ocean gauge (half the maximum wave height) |
More
Every tsunami in 2012The 2000sTsunamis of Costa RicaThe earthquakeThis day in weather historyAlerts in force
Sources
Tsunami events and runups 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 tsunami event 5464.