List of earthquakes in Guatemala

Plate tectonics in the Americas

Motagua Fault (green line) and the Middle America Trench (pink line)

Earthquakes are relatively frequent occurrences in Guatemala.^[1] The country lies in a major fault zone known as the Motagua and Chixoy-Polochic fault complex, which cuts across Guatemala and forms the tectonic boundary between the Caribbean plate and the North American plate. In addition, along Guatemala's western coast line, the Cocos plate pushes against the Caribbean plate, forming a subduction zone known as the Middle America Trench located approximately 50 km off Guatemala's Pacific coast. This subduction zone led to the formation of the Central America Volcanic Arc, and is an important source of offshore earthquakes.^[2] Both these major tectonic processes have generated deformations within the Caribbean plate and produced secondary fault zones, like the Mixco, Jalpatagua, and Santa Catarina Pinula faults.^[3]

The most destructive earthquake in recent Guatemalan history was the 1976 quake with a magnitude of 7.5 M_w and a hypocenter depth of just 5 km. This shallow-focus earthquake, originating from the Motagua Fault, caused 23,000 fatalities, leaving 76,000 injured and causing widespread material damage. Surprisingly, the 7.9 M_w earthquake of 1942, though higher in magnitude, was much less destructive, in part because of its substantially deeper hypocenter depth of 60 km.^[4]

A number of earthquakes with low magnitudes caused major damage in very localized areas, which may in part be explained by their relatively shallow depth. This was the case with the 1985 Uspantán earthquake of 5.0 M_w with a depth of 5 km, which destroyed most buildings in the town of Uspantán, but caused little or no damage in the rest of the country.^[5]

Earthquakes

Guatemala is in constant earthquake activity. However, there are some earthquakes that are more notable due to the damage they've caused. Notable earthquakes in recent Guatemalan history include the following:^[4]

Name	Date	Epicentre	M	MM	Depth	Notes	Deaths
1717 Guatemala earthquake	1717-09-29	Antigua Guatemala[6]	7.4 Mi	~IX		Modified Mercalli intensity estimated at IX
1751 Guatemala earthquake	1751	Antigua Guatemala	.	.	.	.	.
1765 Guatemala earthquake	1765-10-24	Ostuncalco (Quetzaltenango)[6]	7.6-8.2 Mi	~VII		Modified Mercalli intensity estimated at VII. Duration of shaking reported at 7–8 minutes, which may indicate possible rupture up to Chiapas.[6]
1773 Guatemala earthquake	1773-07-29	Antigua Guatemala	7.5 Mi	~VIII		On July 29 of 1773, and the following months, a series of strong earthquakes shook Antigua Guatemala and left most of the city in rubble.[7][8] Also called Santa Marta earthquakes.
1816 Guatemala earthquake	1816-07-22	Alta Verapaz[9] (Chixoy-Polochic Fault)	7.5 Mi	~VII		Modified Mercalli intensity estimated at VII, covering 13,000 km2
1902 Guatemala earthquake	1902-04-18 20:23:50 hrs	14°54′N 91°30′W / 14.90°N 91.50°W Quetzaltenango	7.5 Ms		25 [60]	See also: 1902 Guatemala earthquake. This earthquake may be related to the colossal eruption of the Santa María volcano on 24-10-1902, which killed at least 5000 people.	800-2000
1913 Guatemala earthquake	1913-03-08 08:55 hrs	near Cuilapa Jalpatagua Fault[10]	5.0		6.5 km	Destroyed the town of Cuilapa	60
1917 Guatemala earthquake	1917-12-26 05:21:00 hrs	Guatemala City	5.6	VII-IX		Several foreshocks since November 27, 1917 have preceded this quake.	250
1918 Guatemala earthquake	1918-01-04 04:30.10 and 04:32.25 LT	near Guatemala City	6.0	VI		Magnitude estimate by INSUVIMEH[4]
1942 Guatemala earthquake	1942-08-06 23:36.98 UTC	13°54′N 90°48′W / 13.9°N 90.8°W[4] Western Guatemala[11]	7.9		60 km	8.3 Ms, according to Insivumeh.[4] 38 deaths, many injured, and widespread material damage. Additional damage due to landslides.	38
1959 Guatemala earthquake	1959-02-20 18:16.33 UTC	15°56′N 90°35′W / 15.94°N 90.59°W Ixcán			48 km
1976 Guatemala earthquake	1976-02-04 09:01 UTC	15°19′N 89°06′W / 15.32°N 89.10°W Motagua Fault	7.5	X	5 km	Activated destructive aftershocks in the Mixco Fault near Guatemala City. See also:1976 Guatemala earthquake	23,000
1985 Guatemala earthquake	1985-10-11 03:39.17 hrs	15°18′N 90°54′W / 15.3°N 90.9°W Uspantán	5.0	VII	5 km	Major damage in the town of Uspantán (80% of buildings affected)
1988 Guatemala earthquake	1988-11-03 14:14.10 hrs	13°52′52″N 90°27′00″W / 13.881°N 90.450°W San Vicente Pacaya	6.0	VI	69 km	5 casualties[12]	5
1991 Guatemala earthquake	1991-09-11 03:48:13 hrs	14°24.12′N 91°03.06′W / 14.40200°N 91.05100°W Pochuta	5.3	VII	32 km	Destroyed 80% of the town of San Miguel Pochuta	25
1993 Chiapas earthquake	1993-09-10 19:12:54 hrs	14°43′01″N 92°38′42″W / 14.717°N 92.645°W offshore Chiapas, San Marcos department	7.2		34 km	Caused 1 casualty and considerable material damage in southwestern Guatemala where some roads were blocked due to rockslides. Some damage in parts of Chiapas.[13]	1
1995 Guatemala earthquake	1995-12-19 14:56:06 hrs	15°18′04″N 90°09′14″W / 15.301°N 90.154°W Tucurú	5.3	IV	10 km		1
1998 Guatemala earthquake	1998-01-10 02:20:10 hrs	14°22′26″N 91°28′23″W / 14.374°N 91.473°W Santo Domingo Suchitepéquez	6.6	VII, VI	33 km	16 people injured in Quezaltenango, 3 injured in San Marcos, 5 injured in Guatemala city. Buildings damaged in the Quezaltenango and San Marcos Departments. A number of houses destroyed in Solola Department.[14]
1998 Guatemala earthquake (March)	1998-03-02 20:24:46 LT	13°52.92′N 91°52.38′W / 13.88200°N 91.87300°W offshore Pacific Ocean	5.6	V, III	33 km
2007 Guatemala earthquake	2007-06-13 02:29:41 hrs	13°37′23″N 90°47′49″W / 13.623°N 90.797°W offshore Pacific Ocean 115 km southwest of Guatemala City	6.7		23 km	See also: 2007 Guatemala earthquake	0
2008 Guatemala earthquake	2008-05-27 11:28:01 UTC	13°42′54″N 90°55′16″W / 13.715°N 90.921°W offshore Pacific Ocean[15] 120 km southwest of Guatemala City	5.7		78 km
2009 Guatemala earthquake	2009-05-03 16:21:47 UTC	14°35′N 91°05′W / 14.58°N 91.08°W South of Patzún 55 km (35 miles) ESE of Quezaltenango[16]	6.2		124 km
2010 Guatemala earthquake	2010-02-23 15:16:00 UTC	15°59′02″N 91°23′10″W / 15.984°N 91.386°W 20 km north of San Mateo Ixtatán[17]	5.6		10 km	The earthquake was preceded by a magnitude 5.3 quake on February 23, 2010 at 10:52:15 UTC with its epicentre located at 16°02′53″N 91°13′48″W / 16.048°N 91.230°W (10 km depth)[18] A magnitude 5.3 quake followed in the same region on March 20, 2010, at 16°02′49″N 91°14′10″W / 16.047°N 91.236°W (82.4 km depth).[19]
2011 Guatemala earthquake	2011-09-19 18:34:00 UTC	14°19′55″N 90°08′31″W / 14.332°N 90.142°W 53 km south-east of Guatemala City[20]	5.8	VII	9 km	The earthquake was preceded by a magnitude 4.8 quake about 30 minutes earlier, and followed by two smaller quakes.[21]	3[21]
2012 Guatemala earthquake	2012-11-07 16:35:47 UTC	13°59′13″N 91°57′54″W / 13.987°N 91.965°W[22]	7.4	VII	24.1 km	The earthquake was preceded by 3 magnitude 4-5 quakes the prior week.	42[23]

M = Moment magnitude scale, unless stated otherwise
MM = Intensity on the Modified Mercalli scale

See also

• Chixoy-Polochic Fault
• Geography of Guatemala
• Motagua Fault

References

1. "Studies related to seismicity and seismic hazard in Guatemala: seismic sources, past events and monitoring.". Michigan Technological University. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
2. Cáceres, 2003
3. INSIVUMEH. "Marco tectónico para Guatemala".
4. INSIVUMEH. "Principales eventos sísmicos del siglo XX en Guatemala".
5. INSIVUMEH. "Marco tectónico para Guatemala".
6. White e.a., 2004: 394
7. Moncada 2003
8. "Terremoto de 1773 Guatemala". Provincia San Vicente Ferrer. Dominicos en Centroamérica. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
9. White, 1985
10. Tucker e.a., 1994: 241
11. USGS. "Historic Earthquakes - Guatemala, 1942 August 06".
12. NOAA database
13. USGS - Significant Earthquakes of the World: 1993
14. USGS. Significant Earthquakes of the World, 1998
15. USGS. "Pager: M 5.7 - OFFSHORE GUATEMALA".
16. USGS. "Magnitude 6.2 GUATEMALA".
17. USGS. "Magnitude 5.6 GUATEMALA, 2010 February 23 15:16:00 UTC".
18. USGS. "Magnitude 5.3 GUATEMALA, 2010 February 23 10:52:15 UTC".
19. USGS. "Magnitude 5.3 - GUATEMALA, 2010 March 20 21:55:49 UTC". Archived from the original on February 26, 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-25.
20. USGS. "Magnitude 5.8 GUATEMALA, Magnitude 5.8 - GUATEMALA, 2011 September 19 18:34:00 UTC". Retrieved 2013-02-04.
21. Mike McDonald. Four earthquakes hit Guatemala, killing three. Reuters, 19 September 2011.
22. USGS. "M7.4 - 35km S of Champerico, Guatemala 2012-11-07 16:35:47 UTC". Retrieved 8 November 2012.
23. http://www.prensalibre.com/noticias/Crece-numero-evacuados-casas-danadas_0_809319101.html

Sources

Cáceres Calix; José Diego (2003). Earthquake Sources and Hazard in Northern Central America (pdf). Upsala: Uppsala University. ISBN 91-554-5615-4.

Marshall, Jeffrey S. (2007). "The Geomorphology and Physiographic Provinces of Central America" (PDF). In Bundschuh, Jochen & Guillermo E. Alvarado (Eds). Central America: Geology, Resources and Hazards (pdf). Taylor & Francis. pp. 1–30. ISBN 978-0-415-41647-4.

Moncada Maya, J. Omar (5 May 2003). "En torno a la destrucción d la Ciudad de Guatemala, 1773. Una carta del Ingeniero Militar Antonio Marín". Biblio 3W. Revista Bibliográfica de Geografía y Ciencias Sociales. Universidad de Barcelona. VIII (444). ISSN 1138-9796. Retrieved 2010-02-28.

Olvera, Carlos (1996). "Terremotos anteriores en Guatemala" (PDF). In Villagrán, Juan Carlos (Eds). Diagnóstico de la prevención de desastres naturales en Guatemala con motivo del XX aniversario del terremoto del 4 de febrero de 1976 (pdf) (in Spanish). Guatemala: CIG, CONE, INSIVUMEH. pp. 367–76.

Tucker, Brian E., Mustafa Erdik, Christina N. Hwang (Eds.) (1994). Issues in Urban Earthquake Risk. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. ISBN 0-7923-2914-7.

White, Randall A. (1985). "The Guatemala earthquake of 1816 on the Chixoy-Polochic fault". Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. http://www.seismosoc.org/: Seismological Society of America. 75 (2): 455–473.

White, Randall A.; Juan Pablo Lígoria; Ines Lucía Cifuentes (2004). "Seismic history along the Middle America subduction zone along El Salvador, Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico: 1526-2000". In Rose, William Ingersol (et al.) (Eds). Natural Hazards in El Salvador. Geological Society of America, Special Paper 375. pp. 379–96. ISBN 0-8137-2375-2.

• Seismic data of Guatemala, Retrieved on July 28, 2008
• details on Historic Earthquakes in Guatemala. Retrieved on July 28, 2008.

External links

• Instituto Nacional de Sismología, Vulcanología, Meteorología e Hidrolagía (INSIVUMEH)
• Guatemala - Earthquake information by Earthquake Engineering Research Institute