Reviewed by USGSEl Salvador115y ago
M6.4 earthquake 177 km SSW of Puerto El Triunfo, El Salvador
Wednesday, January 15, 1913, 18:52:19 UTC · 11.832°N, 89.243°W
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 177 km SSW of Puerto El Triunfo, El Salvador on Wednesday, January 15, 1913, 18:52:19 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.0 on August 16, 1909.
- Magnitude
- 6.4
- 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
60 kilotons of TNT
That is about 4 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 126 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
31 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 5 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.2116 km SW of Corinto, NicaraguaJuly 1, 1907 · 153 km E of this epicenter
- 7.0off the coast of Central AmericaAugust 16, 1909 · 179 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.525 km S of Taxisco, GuatemalaSeptember 23, 1907 · 259 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.273 km WSW of Jiquilillo, NicaraguaJune 20, 1906 · 147 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 18 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 2,335 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1854
San Salvador
14 Apr 1854 · 219 km away
1,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1873
Santa Tomas, San Vicente
4 Mar 1873 · 201 km away
800 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1873
Salvador,San Vicente
11 Apr 1873 · 198 km away
300 deaths
- 1902M7.0
El Salvador-Guatemala
26 Feb 1902 · 188 km away
185 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1765
Chiquimula
20 Apr 1765 · 208 km away
50 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1719M7.6
San Salvador
5 Mar 1719 · 206 km away · intensity VIII
Extreme damage ($25M+)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.