Reviewed by USGSMexico13y ago
M4.1 earthquake 106 km SSW of La Esperanza (El Zapotal), Mexico
Wednesday, December 26, 2012, 05:34:25 UTC · 14.577°N, 93.590°W
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck 106 km SSW of La Esperanza (El Zapotal), Mexico on Wednesday, December 26, 2012, 05:34:25 UTC, at a depth of 15.9 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.1
- Light · md
- Depth
- 16 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
58 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
16 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 567 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.726 km SSW of La Gomera, GuatemalaAugust 6, 1942 · 273 km E of this epicenter
- 7.433 km S of Champerico, GuatemalaNovember 7, 2012 · 194 km E of this epicenter
- 7.34 km SSW of Puerto Madero, MexicoDecember 14, 1935 · 125 km E of this epicenter
- 7.334 km SW of Puerto Madero, MexicoApril 29, 1970 · 106 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2127 km SW of La Esperanza (El Zapotal), MexicoMarch 30, 1914 · 42 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 25 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 4,017 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1902M7.5
Quezaltenango, San Marcos
19 Apr 1902 · 286 km away
2,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1982M3.5
Chiapas
28 Mar 1982 · 300 km away
1,879 deaths$3 million damage
- 2012M7.3
San Marcos, San Cristobal Cochu
7 Nov 2012 · 194 km away
48 deaths$210 million damagetsunami
- 1991M6.2
Guatemala City, Pachuta, Solola
18 Sep 1991 · 280 km away · intensity VI
25 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1816M7.5
Soloma
22 Jul 1816 · 247 km away · intensity IX
23 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1968M6.1
S Chiapas
25 Sep 1968 · 158 km away
20 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.