M4.1 earthquake 12 km SSW of Champerico, Guatemala

Tuesday, September 17, 2013, 06:32:05 UTC · 14.185°N, 91.936°W

A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck 12 km SSW of Champerico, Guatemala on Tuesday, September 17, 2013, 06:32:05 UTC, at a depth of 27.1 km (shallow).

Magnitude: 4.1; Light · md
Depth: 27 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

21 tons of TNT

That is about 1/707 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 22 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

102 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Cocos and North American plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.

Depth: shallow

27 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 50 km

USGS lists 9 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.5 on September 30, 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 649 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 48 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 7,202 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1917M6.0
Guatemala City
26 Dec 1917 · 151 km away · intensity IX
2,650 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
1902M7.5
Quezaltenango, San Marcos
19 Apr 1902 · 103 km away
2,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1854
San Salvador
14 Apr 1854 · 298 km away
1,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
1773
St. Jago
3 Jun 1773 · 141 km away
600 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
1874M7.1
Antigua,Chimaltenango,Amatitlan
3 Sep 1874 · 138 km away · intensity VIII
300 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1902M7.0
El Salvador-Guatemala
26 Feb 1902 · 274 km away
185 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers