Reviewed by USGSEl Salvador25y ago
M4.5 earthquake 23 km SSW of Jucuarán, El Salvador
Wednesday, September 26, 2001, 12:11:30 UTC · 13.052°N, 88.308°W
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 23 km SSW of Jucuarán, El Salvador on Wednesday, September 26, 2001, 12:11:30 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.7 on September 22, 2001.
- Magnitude
- 4.5
- 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
85 tons of TNT
That is about 1/178 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 6 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
112 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Indian and Burma 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 lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.8 on September 28, 2001. 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 459 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 · 141 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.783 km SSW of Corinto, NicaraguaSeptember 2, 1992 · 180 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.728 km SSW of Puerto El Triunfo, El SalvadorJanuary 13, 2001 · 38 km W of this epicenter
- 7.57 km N of Los Amates, GuatemalaFebruary 4, 1976 · 267 km N of this epicenter
- 7.318 km SSW of La Libertad, El SalvadorJune 19, 1982 · 121 km W of this epicenter
- 7.27 km SW of El Viejo, NicaraguaMarch 28, 1921 · 128 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2116 km SW of Corinto, NicaraguaJuly 1, 1907 · 162 km S of this epicenter
- 7.1113 km SSW of Puerto El Triunfo, El SalvadorFebruary 8, 1926 · 100 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 66 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 42,914 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1976M7.5
Chimaltenango, Guatemala City
4 Feb 1976 · 267 km away · intensity IX
23,000 deaths$2.1 billion damagetsunami
- 1972M6.2
Managua
23 Dec 1972 · 250 km away
10,000 deaths$3.0 billion damage
- 1931M5.6
Managua
31 Mar 1931 · 283 km away
2,450 deaths$15 million damage
- 1986M5.4
San Salvador
10 Oct 1986 · 123 km away
1,100 deaths$1.5 billion damage
- 1951M6.5
Jucuapa
6 May 1951 · 55 km away
1,100 deaths$23 million damage
- 1854
San Salvador
14 Apr 1854 · 127 km away
1,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.