M6.2 earthquake near San José, Alajuela Province

What happened

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck 13 km SE of Los Chiles, Costa Rica on 1 Mar 1991, 17:30 UTC at a depth of 197 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Strong. Can cause damage in populated areas up to tens of kilometres away. This was an intermediate-depth earthquake, so shaking is spread over a wider, gentler area.

The nearest town in our records is San José, about 55 km away in Alajuela Province, Costa Rica.