Shallow M5.5 Earthquake hit in the South Pacific Ocean near Minas de Marcona (Peru) on Sunday Evening.

Written by Earthquakelist.org on February 17th, 2025. Last updated March 15th, 2025.

A shallow and significant MAG-5.5 earthquake struck in the South Pacific Ocean 83 kilometer from Minas de Marcona, Peru just before midnight of Sunday February 16th, 2025. Roughly 290 thousand people may have felt this earthquake.

Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the South Pacific Ocean, 54 kilometers (34 mi) off the coast of Peru, 83 kilometer south of Minas de Marcona in Ica. The center of this earthquake had a very shallow depth of 10 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Feb 16, 2025 23:30 (Lima Time) - Feb 17, 2025 04:30 Universal Time.
Location:	83 km south of Minas de Marcona, Ica, Peru. Coordinates 15°57'45"S 75°7'3"W.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.5 Detected by 34 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.053 .
Depth:	10 km (6 mi) A very shallow depth.
Max. Intensity:	V Moderate On the Modified Mercalli Scale.
Tsunami Risk:	Low tsunami risk Earthquakes under MAG-6.5 do not usually cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here.

Minimal impact predicted

Based on scientific estimates by the US Geographic Survey (USGS), the risk of high fatalities for this earthquake is classified at level GREEN (low). They expect an 65% likelyhood of between 0 and 1 fatalities, and a 96% chance that the number of fatalities falls no higher than 10.

The USGS classifies the economic impact of this earthquake at level GREEN (low). They expect an 65% likelyhood of between 0 and 1 million US Dollars in economic damage and impact, and a 96% chance that the economic impact of this earthquake falls no higher than 10 million USD.

Roughly 290 thousand people exposed to shaking

An estimated 290 thousand have been exposed to shaking (An MMI or Modified Mercalli Intensity level II or higher) as a result of this earthquake according scientific estimates published by the USGS.

An estimated 24,830 people were exposed to level IV. At this level, light shaking and likely no damage can be expected. Intensity level III was experienced by the majority of people (around 230 thousand). In their region, weak shaking and probably no damage can be expected. All exposure to shaking was within the borders of Peru .

People	MMI Level	Shaking	Damage
0	I	Not noticable	None
42,050	II	Very weak	None
228,000	III	Weak	Probably none
24,830	IV	Light	Likely none
0	V	Moderate	Very light
0	VI	Strong	Light
0	VII	Very Strong	Moderate
0	VIII	Severe	Moderate to heavy
0	IX	Violent	Heavy
0	X	Extreme	Very heavy

Nearby towns and cities

This earthquake may have been felt in Peru . Located 83 kilometer (52 mi) south of the epicenter of this earthquake, Minas de Marcona (Ica, Peru) is the nearest significant population center. The intensity of shaking and damage in Minas de Marcona is estimated to be around level IV on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale (light shaking, likely no damage).

An overview of nearby towns and cities is available in the overview below. If places don't have intensity data available, it likely means the experienced impact in those places was fairly small.

Overview of nearby places

Cities and Towns around the epicenter of this earthquake.
Distance	Place	Intensity (MMI)
83 km (52 mi) N from epicenter	Minas de Marcona Ica, Peru.	IV Light
127 km (79 mi) N from epicenter	Nazca Ica, Peru.	III Weak
221 km (137 mi) NNW from epicenter	Ica Ica, Peru.
267 km (166 mi) ESE from epicenter	Camaná Arequipa, Peru.
276 km (171 mi) NNW from epicenter	Pisco Ica, Peru.
278 km (173 mi) NNW from epicenter	San Clemente Ica, Peru.

Earthquake Intensity Map

The graph below overlays a map of the region around the epicenter with earthquake intensity data provided by the US Geographic Survey. The highest intensity level detected for this earthquake is IV.

I Not felt

II Weak

III Weak

IV Light

V Moderate

VI Strong

VII Very Strong

VIII Severe

IX Violent

X Extreme

Earthquake Intensity Map based on Shakemap Data provided by USGS.

Shaking reported by 1 person

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 1 person has reported shaking in one place in Peru.We keep updating this article as more ground reports become available. You may report that you felt this earthquake here.

Places with most reports:

Ica, Ica, Peru: 1 person.

Aftershocks detected

After this earthquake struck, 1 smaller aftershock occurred. Just 2 hrs after this main shock, an earthquake measuring MAG-4.3 was detected 61 km (38 mi) east-northeast of this earthquake.

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

Detected MAG2.5+ earthquakes within within 100km (62 mi), that occurred in the three days before and after the main shock.
Classification	Magnitude	When	Where
Main Shock This Earthquake	M 5.5	Feb 16, 2025 23:30 (Lima Time)	-
Aftershock	M 4.3	2 hrs later Feb 17, 2025 01:04 (Lima Time)	61 km (38 mi) ENE from Main Shock.

More earthquakes coming?

The risk of aftershocks decreases rapidly over time. Usually, aftershocks are at least one order of magnitude lower than a main shock.

In only six percent of cases, significant earthquakes are followed by a larger main shock, making the current earthquake a foreshock. While the chance of this happening is not so large, it is adviced to maintain cautiousness in the hours and days following a major earthquake.

Read: How to Stay Safe during an Earthquake (cdc.gov).

Earthquakes like this happen often in the region

Earthquakes of this strength are very common in the region. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since July 12th, 2024, when a 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit 57 km (35 mi) further north-east. An even stronger magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck on June 28th, 2024.

In total, 25 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.5 or higher have been registered within 300km (186 mi) of this epicenter in the past 10 years. This comes down to an average of once every 5 months.

Low tsunami risk

DISCLAIMER: We strongly suggest to closely monitor advice from local authorities with regards to tsunami risks. Our analysis is based on automatically collected data from external sources, and these might contain mistakes. In addition, earthquakes can cause landslides that may lead to a tsunami, or be a followed by another, potentially stonger, earthquake.

Based on early data it appears this earthquake was not strong enough (lower than MAG-6.5) to be likely to cause destructive tsunami's. However this earthquake appeared to have hit at a shallow depth under sea, so stay cautious and monitor advice from local authorities.

Tsunami Risk Factors

Factor	Under Sea?	MAG-6.5 or stronger?	Shallow depth?
Explanation	Almost all tsunami's are caused by earthquakes with their epicenter under sea or very near the sea. However stay cautious in coastal areas as earthquakes on land may cause landslides into sea, potentially still causing a local tsunami.	Under MAG 6.5: Very unlikely to cause a tsunami. MAG 6.5 to 7.5: Destructive tsunami's do occur, but are uncommon. Likely to observe small sea level changes. MAG 7.6+: Earthquakes with these magnitudes might produce destructive tsunami's.	Most destructive tsunami's are caused by shallow earthquakes with a depth between 0 and 100km under the surface of the earth. Deeper tsunami's are unlikely to displace to ocean floor.
This Earthquake	This earthquake appears to have struck under the sea.	Not this earthquake. This earthquake had a magnitude of 5.5. Earthquakes of this strength are unlikely to trigger a tsunami.	This earthquake occurred at a depth of of 10 km (6 mi). Earthquakes this shallow could trigger a tsunami.

Sources

Last updated 15/03/25 01:18 (). This article contains currently available information about the earthquake and is automatically composed. We continue to update this article up to a few days after the earthquake occurred.