Magnitude 4.2 earthquake strikes near Barrancas, Departamento de La Guajira, Colombia

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake near Barrancas, Departamento de La Guajira, Colombia, was reported only 11 minutes ago by the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake, considered the main national agency that monitors seismic activity in this part of the world. The earthquake occurred at a very shallow depth of 8.60 km beneath the epicenter early evening on Friday, May 15th, 2026, at 7:21 pm local time. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Fonseca (pop. 32,200) located 40 km from the epicenter, and Barrancas (pop. 38,200) 41 km away.
Other towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Villanueva (pop. 18,700) located 47 km from the epicenter, La Villa del Rosario (pop. 82,800) 47 km away, San Juan del Cesar (pop. 40,100) 50 km away, Albania (pop. 26,900) 54 km away, Machiques (pop. 132,700) 69 km away, and Maracaibo (pop. 1,752,600) 103 km away.


Earthquake data:
Date & time: May 15, 2026 07:21 pm (Caracas time) local time (15 May 2026 23:21 GMT)
Magnitude: 4.2
Depth: 8.60 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 10.68°N / 72.56°W (Maracaibo, Zulia, Venezuela)
Primary data source: RaspberryShake
https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/earthquake/news/302519/Magnitude-42-earthquake-strikes-near-Barrancas-Departamento-de-La-Guajira-Colombia.html