A magnitude 5.3 earthquake occurred just 7 minutes ago, 13 miles north of Tocache, Peru, the Institute of Geophysics at the Quito National Polytechnic School (IGEPN) reported.
The earthquake struck at a shallow depth of 10 km below the epicenter near Tocache, in the San Martin region of Peru, in the early morning hours of Saturday, December 4, 2021 at 6:40 a.m. local time. The exact magnitude, epicenter and depth of the quake could be revised in the coming hours or minutes, as seismologists review the data and refine their calculations, or when other agencies release their report.
Based on preliminary seismic data, the quake was likely felt by many people in the epicenter area. It should not have caused any significant damage, other than objects falling from shelves, broken glass, etc.
In Polvora (780 inhabitants) located 20 km from the epicenter, Tocache (29,000 inhabitants) 21 km and Uchiza (17,700 inhabitants) 51 km, the earthquake should have been felt as a slight tremor.
Weak tremors could be felt in Huicungo (6,800 inhabitants) located 81 km from the epicenter, Juanjui (37,700 inhabitants) 94 km and Bellavista (15,200 inhabitants) 105 km.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update the magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant earthquake news becomes available. If you are in the region, please let us know about your experience through our reporting mechanism, either in line or via our mobile application. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone in the world who is interested in learning more about this earthquake.

Based on its magnitude, the fault that was active during the earthquake ruptured along an area of ​​approx. 20 km² (= 8 square miles) as a prime estimate. The length of the rupture zone was therefore probably about 8 km (5 mi).
Aftershocks typically occur during the days and weeks following the earthquake at or near the same fault, at distances of up to approx. twice the length of the rupture zone.
The often largely linear arrangement of the aftershocks of the aftershocks encompasses the main shock failure zone (check the menu below to check).

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