M4.8 earthquake 29 km SW of La Gomera, Guatemala

Thursday, July 18, 2013, 19:48:13 UTC · 13.934°N, 91.279°W

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 29 km SW of La Gomera, Guatemala on Thursday, July 18, 2013, 19:48:13 UTC, at a depth of 43.4 km (shallow). USGS received 6 “Did You Feel It?” reports, with a maximum reported intensity of IV (light). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.1 on July 15, 2013.

Magnitude: 4.8; Light · mb
Depth: 43 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 6; Max intensity IV
Est. shaking: —; No ShakeMap
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

239 tons of TNT

That is about 1/63 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 2 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

76 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

43 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

Reports sent by people to USGS, grouped by place (most reports first). Intensity uses the Modified Mercalli scale (I–X): what people felt, not the magnitude.

Place	Intensity	Reports	Distance
Guatemala, Guatemala, Guatemala	III · Weak	2	118 km
Mixco, Guatemala, Guatemala	IV · Light	1	115 km
Antigua Guatemala, Sacatepéquez, Guatemala	II · Weak	1	100 km
San Pablo la Laguna, Sololá, Guatemala	II · Weak	1	97 km
Retalhuleu, Retalhuleu, Guatemala	II · Weak	1	91 km

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 50 km

USGS lists 4 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.6 on August 6, 2013. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 666 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 62 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 33,972 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1976M7.5
Chimaltenango, Guatemala City
4 Feb 1976 · 281 km away · intensity IX
23,000 deaths$2.1 billion damagetsunami
1917M6.0
Guatemala City
26 Dec 1917 · 104 km away · intensity IX
2,650 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
1902M7.5
Quezaltenango, San Marcos
19 Apr 1902 · 31 km away
2,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1986M5.4
San Salvador
10 Oct 1986 · 234 km away
1,100 deaths$1.5 billion damage
1854
San Salvador
14 Apr 1854 · 225 km away
1,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
2001M7.7
El Salvador; Guatemala
13 Jan 2001 · 300 km away · intensity VIII
844 deaths$753 million damagetsunami

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers