Reviewed by USGSEl Salvador112y ago
M7.7 earthquake 12 km NW of Chalatenango, El Salvador
Tuesday, September 7, 1915, 01:20:49 UTC · 14.126°N, 89.007°W
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck 12 km NW of Chalatenango, El Salvador on Tuesday, September 7, 1915, 01:20:49 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 7.7
- Major · 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
5.4 megatons of TNT
That is about 355 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 11,220 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
107 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Caribbean and North American plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
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 200 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 200 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 7 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.711 km S of Los Amates, GuatemalaJune 12, 1912 · 115 km N of this epicenter
- 6.525 km S of Taxisco, GuatemalaSeptember 23, 1907 · 160 km W of this epicenter
- 6.4177 km SSW of Puerto El Triunfo, El SalvadorJanuary 15, 1913 · 256 km S of this epicenter
- 6.273 km WSW of Jiquilillo, NicaraguaJune 20, 1906 · 222 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 28 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 5,342 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1902M7.5
Quezaltenango, San Marcos
19 Apr 1902 · 215 km away
2,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1854
San Salvador
14 Apr 1854 · 42 km away
1,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1873
Santa Tomas, San Vicente
4 Mar 1873 · 56 km away
800 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1773
St. Jago
3 Jun 1773 · 190 km away
600 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1874M7.1
Antigua,Chimaltenango,Amatitlan
3 Sep 1874 · 187 km away · intensity VIII
300 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1873
Salvador,San Vicente
11 Apr 1873 · 58 km away
300 deaths
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.