M5.8 earthquake 75 km SSW of La Gomera, Guatemala

Sunday, May 12, 2013, 07:29:59 UTC · 13.476°N, 91.376°W

A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck 75 km SSW of La Gomera, Guatemala on Sunday, May 12, 2013, 07:29:59 UTC, at a depth of 11.0 km (shallow). The USGS PAGER alert is green: low likelihood of casualties and damage. It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.2 on March 25, 2013.

Magnitude: 5.8; Moderate · mww
Depth: 11 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: V; Moderate (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert: Green; Impact estimate
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 75 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

8 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/2 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 16 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

57 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Cocos and North American plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: shallow

11 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 populated area was estimated to feel noticeable shaking.

After the main event

Aftershocks within 75 km

USGS lists 5 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.4 on May 16, 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 650 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 59 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 10,972 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1917M6.0
Guatemala City
26 Dec 1917 · 150 km away · intensity IX
2,650 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
1902M7.5
Quezaltenango, San Marcos
19 Apr 1902 · 71 km away
2,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1986M5.4
San Salvador
10 Oct 1986 · 247 km away
1,100 deaths$1.5 billion damage
1854
San Salvador
14 Apr 1854 · 238 km away
1,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
2001M7.7
El Salvador; Guatemala
13 Jan 2001 · 298 km away · intensity VIII
844 deaths$753 million damagetsunami
1873
Santa Tomas, San Vicente
4 Mar 1873 · 243 km away
800 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)

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

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