M4.4 earthquake 74 km SSW of Champerico, Guatemala

Monday, December 17, 2012, 14:38:17 UTC · 13.633°N, 92.054°W

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 74 km SSW of Champerico, Guatemala on Monday, December 17, 2012, 14:38:17 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow).

Magnitude: 4.4; 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 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

40 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Cocos 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 lists 6 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.5 on December 31, 2012. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 616 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 40 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 6,151 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1917M6.0
Guatemala City
26 Dec 1917 · 190 km away · intensity IX
2,650 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
1902M7.5
Quezaltenango, San Marcos
19 Apr 1902 · 121 km away
2,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1773
St. Jago
3 Jun 1773 · 181 km away
600 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
1874M7.1
Antigua,Chimaltenango,Amatitlan
3 Sep 1874 · 175 km away · intensity VIII
300 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1902M7.0
El Salvador-Guatemala
26 Feb 1902 · 276 km away
185 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1965M6.0
San Marcos
3 May 1965 · 298 km away · intensity VI
125 deaths$35 million damage

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

Nearby trackers