M5.6 earthquake 95 km SW of Tamarindo, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica
A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck 95 km SW of Tamarindo, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica at 15:55 local time (21:55 UTC) on 30 Sept 2026, at a depth of 8 km, according to USGS, GFZ and INGV.
Reported by 3 agencies · 2 reports to USGS “Did You Feel It?”
Data: USGS, GFZ, INGV · updated 2026-09-30 22:39 UTC · reviewed
- Magnitude
- 5.6moderate
moment magnitude (W phase) (mww) - Depth
- 8 km
- Status
- Reviewed
- Origin time
- 2026-09-30 21:55:26 UTC
- Local: 30 Sept 2026, 15:55:26 (America/Costa Rica)
- Epicentre
- 9.753° N, 86.506° W
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Circles show this event and others within 80 km from 7 days before to 30 days after. Lines: plate boundaries and GEM active faults. Open on the live map
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Est. shaking |
|---|---|---|
| TamarindoGuanacaste Province, Costa Rica · pop. 6,375 | 95 km | IVLight |
| Santa CruzGuanacaste Province, Costa Rica · pop. 12,281 | 115 km | IIIWeak |
| ManaguaManagua Department, Nicaragua · pop. 973,087 | 266 km | IIWeak |
| San JoséCosta Rica · pop. 335,007 | 267 km | IIWeak |
Shaking is an estimate from the intensity prediction equation of Allen, Wald & Worden (2012), not an observation. Local ground and buildings can change it by a level or more. Likely felt out to about 244 km.
Every agency's solution
Agencies locate earthquakes with their own stations and methods, so their numbers differ. We match reports of the same event by time, distance and magnitude and show them side by side. The headline uses USGS, which has been reviewed by an analyst.
| Agency | Magnitude | Depth | Epicentre | Time offset | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GFZGFZ via GEOFON, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences | 5.5 Mwwas 5.6 | 10 km | 9.83° N, 86.44° W | +1.7 s | Automatic · 2 revisions |
| USGSheadlineUSGS NEIC via U.S. Geological Survey | 5.6 mww | 8 km | 9.75° N, 86.51° W | – | Reviewed · 1 revision |
| INGVSURVEY-INGV-A via Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia | 5.6 Mwp | 48.4 km | 10.00° N, 86.36° W | +8.1 s | Automatic |
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How big was it?
Felt by most people over a wide area. Can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre.
It released roughly the energy of 3.8 kt of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step means about 32 times more energy and 10 times larger waves on a seismogram. Depth matters too: at 8 km this was a shallow earthquake, which is felt more strongly at the surface than a deeper one of the same size.
M5.6 releases about 32× the energy of M4.6, and its waves are about 10× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 3.8 kt of TNT vs 120 t of TNT.
Each square is the energy of one M4.6. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.
Aftershocks and nearby activity
No later earthquakes have been recorded within 80 km so far. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.
Did you feel it?
Reports from people help show where shaking was strong. They are anonymous and shown here in aggregate.
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Event id gfz2026teqf. First recorded here 30 Sept 2026, 22:04:13 UTC. Solutions: GFZ (geofon:gfz2026teqf); USGS (usgs:us6000tymj); INGV (ingv:46744021). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M5.6 earthquake 95 km SW of Tamarindo, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/gfz2026teqf-m5-6-earthquake-95-km-sw-of-tamarindo-guanacaste-province-costa-rica, data from USGS, GFZ, INGV.
JSON: /api/v1/events/gfz2026teqf. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.