Significant M5.3 Earthquake struck on Tuesday Afternoon near San José in Costa Rica.

Written by Earthquakelist.org on July 7th, 2026. Last updated July 8th, 2026.

Around noon of Tuesday July 7th, 2026, a significant M5.3 earthquake hit under land 58 kilometer from San José in Costa Rica. Other nearby countries are Nicaragua and Panama.

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Earthquake Summary

The earthquake struck on land in Costa Rica, 58 kilometer (36 mi) west of San José. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 48 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Jul 7, 2026 12:11PM (Costa Rica Time) - Jul 7, 2026 18:11 Universal Time.
Location:	58 km west of San José, Costa Rica. Coordinates 9°51'52"N 84°36'15"W.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.3 Detected by 32 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.055 .
Depth:	48 km (30 mi) A quite shallow depth.
Tsunami Risk:	Tsunami very unlikely While this was a shallow earthquake in a coastal area, it appears to have occurred under land (9 km from the sea) with a magnitude that is usually not strong enough to cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here.

Nearby towns and cities

3 countries can be found within 300km of the epicenter of this earthquake: Costa Rica , Nicaragua and Panama .

Esparza in Puntarenas, Costa Rica is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 16 kilometer (10 mi) south-east of Esparza.

The table below provides an overview of all places in proximity of today's earthquake.

Overview of nearby places

Shaking reported by 29 people

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 29 people have reported shaking in 21 places, all within Costa Rica.We keep updating this article as more ground reports become available. You may report that you felt this earthquake here.

Places with most reports:

• Jacó, Puntarenas, Costa Rica: 5 people.
• Orotina, Alajuela, Costa Rica: 2 people.
• Quepos, Puntarenas, Costa Rica: 2 people.
• San José, San José, Costa Rica: 2 people.
• San Rafael, San José, Costa Rica: 2 people.
• Ipís, San José, Costa Rica: 1 person.
• Sabanilla, Alajuela, Costa Rica: 1 person.
• Salitrillos, San José, Costa Rica: 1 person.
• Parrita, Puntarenas, Costa Rica: 1 person.
• San Pedro, San José, Costa Rica: 1 person.

6 Aftershocks detected

This main shock was followed by 6 smaller aftershocks. At a distance of 48 km (30 mi) southwest of this earthquake, an aftershock struck 2 hrs later. It measured a magnitude of 3.5

This main shock was prefaced by 5 smaller foreshocks. Nearby this earthquake a foreshock struck 3 days earlier. It measured a magnitude of 3.6

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

More earthquakes coming?

Earthquakes can create aftershocks. These are generally at least 1 magnitude lower than any main shock, and as time passes the chance and strength of aftershocks decreases.

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.

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 April 15th, 2026, when a 5.7 magnitude earthquake hit 192 km (119 mi) further west. An even stronger magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck on November 13th, 2017.

In total, 38 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.3 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 3 months.

Tsunami very unlikely

While MAG-6.5+ earthquakes may cause tsunami's, it appears that the epicenter of this earthquake hit under land. In addition, the reported depth is deeper than 100km, making the risk of a tsunami even less likely. However always stay cautious and monitor advice from local authorities.

Tsunami Risk Factors

Sources

Last updated 08/07/26 17:38 (). This article is automatically generated based on available data. We keep checking multiple sources for additional information. This article gets updated as new details on this earthquake become available.

1. US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us6000tarc
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20260707_0000243
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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