QuakeScout
Magnitude4.7

Reviewed by USGSEl Salvador44y ago

M4.7 earthquake 8 km NE of Victoria, El Salvador

Wednesday, June 23, 1982, 08:51:38 UTC · 14.009°N, 88.577°W

A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck 8 km NE of Victoria, El Salvador on Wednesday, June 23, 1982, 08:51:38 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.1 on June 21, 1982.

Magnitude
4.7
Light · mb
Depth
33 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

169 tons of TNT

That is about 1/89 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 3 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

152 km

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

Depth: shallow

33 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 200 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.712 km NW of Chalatenango, El SalvadorSeptember 7, 1915 · 48 km W of this epicenter
  2. 7.726 km SSW of La Gomera, GuatemalaAugust 6, 1942 · 279 km W of this epicenter
  3. 7.57 km N of Los Amates, GuatemalaFebruary 4, 1976 · 157 km N of this epicenter
  4. 7.318 km SSW of La Libertad, El SalvadorJune 19, 1982 · 115 km SW of this epicenter
  5. 7.27 km SW of El Viejo, NicaraguaMarch 28, 1921 · 214 km SE of this epicenter
  6. 7.2116 km SW of Corinto, NicaraguaJuly 1, 1907 · 273 km S of this epicenter
  7. 7.1113 km SSW of Puerto El Triunfo, El SalvadorFebruary 8, 1926 · 192 km S of this epicenter
  8. 7.112 km S of Conchagua, El SalvadorMay 21, 1932 · 119 km SE 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 32,695 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1976M7.5

    Chimaltenango, Guatemala City

    4 Feb 1976 · 157 km away · intensity IX

    23,000 deaths$2.1 billion damagetsunami

  2. 1917M6.0

    Guatemala City

    26 Dec 1917 · 228 km away · intensity IX

    2,650 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)

  3. 1902M7.5

    Quezaltenango, San Marcos

    19 Apr 1902 · 261 km away

    2,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  4. 1951M6.5

    Jucuapa

    6 May 1951 · 140 km away

    1,100 deaths$23 million damage

  5. 1854

    San Salvador

    14 Apr 1854 · 71 km away

    1,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)

  6. 1873

    Santa Tomas, San Vicente

    4 Mar 1873 · 72 km away

    800 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)

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

Nearby trackers

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