Reviewed by USGSGuatemala12y ago
M4.2 earthquake 80 km SSW of Puerto San José, Guatemala
Tuesday, December 31, 2013, 07:45:44 UTC · 13.316°N, 91.216°W
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 80 km SSW of Puerto San José, Guatemala on Tuesday, December 31, 2013, 07:45:44 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.2
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 35 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
30 tons of TNT
That is about 1/500 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 16 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
43 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
35 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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 663 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.712 km NW of Chalatenango, El SalvadorSeptember 7, 1915 · 255 km E of this epicenter
- 7.726 km SSW of La Gomera, GuatemalaAugust 6, 1942 · 61 km N of this epicenter
- 7.728 km SSW of Puerto El Triunfo, El SalvadorJanuary 13, 2001 · 278 km E of this epicenter
- 7.433 km S of Champerico, GuatemalaNovember 7, 2012 · 105 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.34 km SSW of Puerto Madero, MexicoDecember 14, 1935 · 202 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.334 km SW of Puerto Madero, MexicoApril 29, 1970 · 198 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.318 km SSW of La Libertad, El SalvadorJune 19, 1982 · 198 km E of this epicenter
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 10,972 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1917M6.0
Guatemala City
26 Dec 1917 · 158 km away · intensity IX
2,650 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1902M7.5
Quezaltenango, San Marcos
19 Apr 1902 · 80 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 · 278 km away · intensity VIII
844 deaths$753 million damagetsunami
- 1873
Santa Tomas, San Vicente
4 Mar 1873 · 228 km away
800 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.