Reviewed by USGSEl Salvador34y ago
M4.4 earthquake 73 km S of Intipucá, El Salvador
Wednesday, December 16, 1992, 04:10:24 UTC · 12.538°N, 88.163°W
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 73 km S of Intipucá, El Salvador on Wednesday, December 16, 1992, 04:10:24 UTC, at a depth of 121.2 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 4.4
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 121 km
- Intermediate
- 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
60 tons of TNT
That is about 1/251 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 8 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
20 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Indian and Burma plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: intermediate
121 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.4 on December 31, 1992. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 327 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 · 199 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.783 km SSW of Corinto, NicaraguaSeptember 2, 1992 · 126 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.392 km SW of San Juan del Sur, NicaraguaDecember 30, 1907 · 276 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.318 km SSW of La Libertad, El SalvadorJune 19, 1982 · 159 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.27 km SW of El Viejo, NicaraguaMarch 28, 1921 · 103 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2116 km SW of Corinto, NicaraguaJuly 1, 1907 · 103 km S of this epicenter
- 7.1113 km SSW of Puerto El Triunfo, El SalvadorFebruary 8, 1926 · 74 km W 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 18,743 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1972M6.2
Managua
23 Dec 1972 · 225 km away
10,000 deaths$3.0 billion damage
- 1931M5.6
Managua
31 Mar 1931 · 277 km away
2,450 deaths$15 million damage
- 1986M5.4
San Salvador
10 Oct 1986 · 177 km away
1,100 deaths$1.5 billion damage
- 1951M6.5
Jucuapa
6 May 1951 · 65 km away
1,100 deaths$23 million damage
- 1854
San Salvador
14 Apr 1854 · 180 km away
1,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1930
Managua
31 Mar 1930 · 219 km away
1,000 deaths$15 million damage
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.