Reviewed by USGSEl Salvador102y ago
M6.7 earthquake 128 km SSW of Chirilagua, El Salvador
Monday, February 15, 1926, 02:59:50 UTC · 12.104°N, 88.451°W
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck 128 km SSW of Chirilagua, El Salvador on Monday, February 15, 1926, 02:59:50 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.1 on February 8, 1926.
- Magnitude
- 6.7
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 15 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
169 kilotons of TNT
That is about 11 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 355 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
33 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Caribbean and Cocos plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
15 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 22 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.712 km NW of Chalatenango, El SalvadorSeptember 7, 1915 · 233 km N of this epicenter
- 7.392 km SW of San Juan del Sur, NicaraguaDecember 30, 1907 · 266 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.27 km SW of El Viejo, NicaraguaMarch 28, 1921 · 145 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.2116 km SW of Corinto, NicaraguaJuly 1, 1907 · 82 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.1113 km SSW of Puerto El Triunfo, El SalvadorFebruary 8, 1926 · 43 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.0off the coast of Central AmericaAugust 16, 1909 · 254 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 30 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 2,342 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1854
San Salvador
14 Apr 1854 · 205 km away
1,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1873
Santa Tomas, San Vicente
4 Mar 1873 · 186 km away
800 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1873
Salvador,San Vicente
11 Apr 1873 · 177 km away
300 deaths
- 1902M7.0
El Salvador-Guatemala
26 Feb 1902 · 192 km away
185 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1765
Chiquimula
20 Apr 1765 · 195 km away
50 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1915M7.7
El Salvador
7 Sep 1915 · 233 km away · intensity VIII
7 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.