Matagalpa

Earthquakes near Matagalpa through history

From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 8 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Matagalpa, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. 5 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest on either list was an estimated magnitude 7.9 on April 29, 1898 (Leon, Chinandega, Managua).

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The last 30 days · as of

USGS recorded no earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more within 100 km of Matagalpa in the last 30 days.

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What the record holds

The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 6.3 on December 23, 1972 (10 km N of Managua, Nicaragua), for which NOAA records 10,000 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 15 here, back to 51 BCE. NOAA records deaths in 6 of the events here, 13,464 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 5.5 on September 28, 2016 (Leon). NOAA’s record here begins in 51 BCE with an eruption (Apoyeque). It grows thinner going back: 10 of the 15 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here are from 1927 on. NOAA lists one tsunami that began within 100 km of Matagalpa. NOAA lists 2 significant eruptions of 2 volcanoes within 100 km of Matagalpa. The largest was Apoyeque in 51 BCE, at 6 on the volcanic explosivity index.

The events

  • September 28, 2016Earthquake · M 5.5Leon · one death (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
  • December 23, 1972Earthquake · M 6.310 km N of Managua, Nicaragua · 10,000 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • January 24, 1956Earthquake · M 7.3Puerto SamozaNOAA NCEI
  • December 12, 1919TsunamiNicaraguaNOAA NCEI
  • April 29, 1898Earthquake · M 7.9 (est.)Leon, Chinandega, ManaguaNOAA NCEI
  • 51 BCEEruption · VEI 6ApoyequeNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia

Good to know

  • An event counts for Matagalpa 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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