Guatemala City

Earthquakes near Guatemala City, 1927–2026

From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 31 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Guatemala City, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. 7 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 7.7 on August 6, 1942 (26 km SSW of La Gomera, Guatemala).

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The last 30 days · as of

USGS recorded one earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more within 100 km of Guatemala City in the last 30 days.

The latest: magnitude 4.6 on October 19 (5 km E of San José El Ídolo, Guatemala).

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What the record holds

The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 7.5 on February 4, 1976 (7 km N of Los Amates, Guatemala), for which NOAA records 23,000 deaths. 16 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 16 of the events here, 23,375 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 5.7 on July 29, 2025 (6 km SE of Comapa, Guatemala). NOAA lists one tsunami that began within 100 km of Guatemala City. It reached 4 m, on October 6, 2005. NOAA lists 11 significant eruptions of 2 volcanoes within 100 km of Guatemala City. The largest was Fuego on January 21, 1932, at 4 on the volcanic explosivity index.

The events

  • July 29, 2025Earthquake · M 5.76 km SE of Comapa, Guatemala · one death (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI
  • October 6, 2005Tsunami · 4 m highLago De AtitlanNOAA NCEI
  • February 4, 1976Earthquake · M 7.57 km N of Los Amates, Guatemala · 23,000 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • August 6, 1942Earthquake · M 7.726 km SSW of La Gomera, GuatemalaUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • January 21, 1932Eruption · VEI 4FuegoNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia

Good to know

  • An event counts for Guatemala City when it began within 100 km of its centre, or 200 km for an earthquake of magnitude 7 or more. Damage can reach further.
  • USGS counts here start at magnitude 6: the catalogue’s smaller quakes thin out going back, where few instruments listened.
  • NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
  • Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
  • A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
  • Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history

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