Reviewed by USGSGuatemala120y ago
M6.5 earthquake 25 km S of Taxisco, Guatemala
Monday, September 23, 1907, 21:40:03 UTC · 13.836°N, 90.460°W
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 25 km S of Taxisco, Guatemala on Monday, September 23, 1907, 21:40:03 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 6.5
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 10 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
71 kilotons of TNT
That is about 5 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 150 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
3 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Caribbean and North American plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
10 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 100 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists no earlier M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km.
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 26 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 5,358 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1902M7.5
Quezaltenango, San Marcos
19 Apr 1902 · 61 km away
2,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1854
San Salvador
14 Apr 1854 · 136 km away
1,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1873
Santa Tomas, San Vicente
4 Mar 1873 · 145 km away
800 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1773
St. Jago
3 Jun 1773 · 89 km away
600 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1874M7.1
Antigua,Chimaltenango,Amatitlan
3 Sep 1874 · 78 km away · intensity VIII
300 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1873
Salvador,San Vicente
11 Apr 1873 · 160 km away
300 deaths
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.