2002 Burica earthquake
Earthquake in Panama
The 2002 Burica earthquake occurred on July 30 at 19:16:48 local time off the coast of Panama. It had a magnitude of Mw 6.5. The epicenter was located off the southeastern coast of Burica Peninsula, close to the Costa Rica–Panama border. Some homes collapsed and at least 11 people were reported injured, both in Panama and in Costa Rica. The strongest intensity reached VII (Very strong) in Puerto Armuelles, Panama. It was felt with III (Weak) to IV (Light) around San Jose, Costa Rica. Shops in the center of Puerto Armuelles suffered from loss such as fallen merchandise and broken window glass. This earthquake occurred along the Panama fracture zone.
Tectonic setting
To the northwest of the border area between Panama and Costa Rica oceanic crust of the Cocos plate is being subducted beneath the Caribbean plate along the Middle America Trench. To the southeast the Nazca plate is being subducted.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “2002 Burica earthquake” as earthquake in Panama. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as earthquake in Panama. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4599804. The first chronological checks are 2002.
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This entry incorporates text from “2002 Burica earthquake” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.