QuakeScout
Magnitude4.1

Reviewed by USGSEl Salvador25y ago

M4.1 earthquake 42 km SSE of La Libertad, El Salvador

Wednesday, June 20, 2001, 01:42:24 UTC · 13.116°N, 89.245°W

A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck 42 km SSE of La Libertad, El Salvador on Wednesday, June 20, 2001, 01:42:24 UTC, at a depth of 57.7 km (shallow).

Magnitude
4.1
Light · mb
Depth
58 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

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

100 km

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

Depth: shallow

58 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 471 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 · 115 km N of this epicenter
  2. 7.783 km SSW of Corinto, NicaraguaSeptember 2, 1992 · 257 km SE of this epicenter
  3. 7.726 km SSW of La Gomera, GuatemalaAugust 6, 1942 · 223 km W of this epicenter
  4. 7.728 km SSW of Puerto El Triunfo, El SalvadorJanuary 13, 2001 · 64 km E of this epicenter
  5. 7.57 km N of Los Amates, GuatemalaFebruary 4, 1976 · 246 km N of this epicenter
  6. 7.318 km SSW of La Libertad, El SalvadorJune 19, 1982 · 29 km NW of this epicenter
  7. 7.27 km SW of El Viejo, NicaraguaMarch 28, 1921 · 227 km E of this epicenter
  8. 7.2116 km SW of Corinto, NicaraguaJuly 1, 1907 · 222 km SE of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 70 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 35,153 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1976M7.5

    Chimaltenango, Guatemala City

    4 Feb 1976 · 246 km away · intensity IX

    23,000 deaths$2.1 billion damagetsunami

  2. 1917M6.0

    Guatemala City

    26 Dec 1917 · 221 km away · intensity IX

    2,650 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)

  3. 1902M7.5

    Quezaltenango, San Marcos

    19 Apr 1902 · 214 km away

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

  4. 1986M5.4

    San Salvador

    10 Oct 1986 · 80 km away

    1,100 deaths$1.5 billion damage

  5. 1951M6.5

    Jucuapa

    6 May 1951 · 157 km away

    1,100 deaths$23 million damage

  6. 1854

    San Salvador

    14 Apr 1854 · 76 km away

    1,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)

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

Nearby trackers

Closest city pages