7.6 Magnitude Earthquake in Costa Rica
While reviewing older earthquake and natural-disaster stories for the MeroLog archive, I came across the September 5, 2012 earthquake that struck Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula. It was a significant event that deserves to be preserved as part of the historical record.
On September 5, 2012, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the Nicoya Peninsula in northwestern Costa Rica. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake occurred at 14:42 UTC and was located approximately 11 kilometers northeast of Hojancha, with a reported depth of 35 kilometers. The USGS describes the earthquake as a thrust-faulting event associated with the subduction of the Cocos Plate beneath the Caribbean Plate along the Middle America subduction zone.
The earthquake was powerful enough to be felt widely across Costa Rica and neighboring countries. A tsunami warning was issued following the earthquake and was subsequently cancelled. NOAA records the event as having generated a tsunami, with observations recorded by a DART tsunami-monitoring buoy.
The earthquake also became an important event for earthquake researchers because the Nicoya Peninsula had been extensively monitored before the earthquake. Scientists had established seismic and GPS networks in the region, providing an unusual opportunity to study a major earthquake and the surrounding tectonic processes using observations collected before, during, and after the event.
Reports following the earthquake documented deaths, injuries, structural damage, and disruption to infrastructure. Contemporary summaries estimated economic losses at approximately US$44.8 million, while later scientific research provides additional detail about the effects on buildings and public facilities.
The earthquake was followed by a substantial sequence of aftershocks. Contemporary reporting recorded approximately 1,650 aftershocks in the days following the main event, illustrating how the earthquake continued to affect the region after the initial shaking.
Why I am documenting this
The purpose of this entry is not simply to reproduce an old earthquake report. It is also an example of how I want to approach historical content on MeroLog.
Older articles can contain useful information, but dates, magnitudes, locations, casualty figures, and earthquake depths can sometimes differ between early news reports and later scientific assessments. In this case, the original reporting and subsequent scientific studies provide slightly different measurements and interpretations, which makes checking the original sources particularly important.
For this entry, I am therefore treating the original reporting as a starting point rather than the final authority. The USGS provides the primary earthquake parameters, while NOAA provides information about the tsunami, and scientific publications provide additional context about the earthquake’s tectonic setting and scientific significance.
This is also part of the broader purpose of my MeroLog project: to preserve interesting historical information while improving the way I research, verify, organize, and present older material online.
Sources
- USGS — 2012 Costa Rica M7.6 earthquake event information
- NOAA — Costa Rica tsunami, September 5, 2012
- Scientific research on the September 5, 2012 Nicoya earthquake
- The original Watchers.news report from September 5, 2012
The original Watchers.news article is particularly useful for understanding how the event was reported at the time, while the later scientific and government sources provide a stronger basis for verifying the historical details.