Earthquakes in Costa Rica

Costa Rica appears infrequently in the record, with just 2 events in the past 30 days, and 8 of the events on record reached magnitude 5 or above — the level at which damage becomes a genuine concern for vulnerable construction. Costa Rica sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, the belt of subduction zones responsible for roughly 90% of the world's earthquakes.

59 earthquakes have been recorded in Costa Rica in our catalogue, 2 of them in the past 30 days.

The average magnitude is 4.5 and the average focal depth 28 km. 54 events reached magnitude 4 or above and 8 reached magnitude 5 or above.

The strongest earthquake recorded in Costa Rica in this period was a magnitude 5.9 event near Quepos, Costa Rica on 22 October 2025, at a depth of 31 km. A magnitude 5.9 earthquake radiates roughly 10,676 tons of TNT equivalent in seismic energy.

Locations recording the most events include Tamarindo (16), Puerto Cortés (8), Quepos (5), Jacó (4), Parrita (3).

97% of events here are shallow (under 70 km), 3% intermediate (70–300 km) and 0% deep-focus (over 300 km). Almost everything here is crustal. That is characteristic of transform faulting or continental deformation rather than subduction — and it means shaking at the surface is strong for the magnitudes involved.

The deepest event on record here was a magnitude 4.5 earthquake at 222 km beneath San José, Costa Rica on 22 November 2025.

By band, the catalogue holds 5 in the magnitude 3 range, 46 in the magnitude 4 range, 8 in the magnitude 5 range.

The busiest single day was 15 April 2026, with 2 recorded events.

No event in this record carries a USGS link to NOAA tsunami information.