The 1863 Jujuy earthquake was a seismic movement

Earthquake

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...

 that took place in the province

Provinces of Argentina

Argentina is subdivided into twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city...

 of Jujuy

Jujuy Province

Jujuy is a province of Argentina, located in the extreme northwest of the country, at the borders with Chile and Bolivia. The only neighboring Argentine province is Salta to the east and south.-History:...

, Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, on 14 January 1863, at about 11:00 (UTC

Coordinated Universal Time

Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...

). It had an estimated magnitude of 6.4 in the Richter scale

Richter magnitude scale

The expression Richter magnitude scale refers to a number of ways to assign a single number to quantify the energy contained in an earthquake....

. Its epicenter

Epicenter

The epicenter or epicentre is the point on the Earth's surface that is directly above the hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or underground explosion originates...

 was at 23°36′S 65°00′W, at a depth of about 50 kilometres (31 mi).

This earthquake had a felt intensity of VIII on the Mercalli intensity scale

Mercalli intensity scale

The Mercalli intensity scale is a seismic scale used for measuring the intensity of an earthquake. It measures the effects of an earthquake, and is distinct from the moment magnitude M_w usually reported for an earthquake , which is a measure of the energy released...

. Its magnitude and duration made it exceptionally destructive, causing damage to the cathedral, the cabildo (colonial government house) and precarious homes in San Salvador de Jujuy

San Salvador de Jujuy

San Salvador de Jujuy , commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. It lies near the southern end of the Humahuaca Canyon where wooded hills meet the lowlands....

, the provincial capital.