Earthquakes in Guatemala through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 120 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Guatemala. 16 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).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded 2 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.
The latest: magnitude 4.6 on October 19 (5 km E of San José El Ídolo, Guatemala).
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. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 57 here, back to 1539. NOAA records deaths in 36 of the events here, 40,785 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 7.3 on July 17, 2026 (60 km WSW of Puerto Madero, Mexico). NOAA’s record here begins on November 24, 1539 with an earthquake (Cabo De Higueras). It grows thinner going back: 33 of the 57 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here are from 1927 on. NOAA lists 8 tsunamis that began in or off Guatemala, and one from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 4 m, on May 28, 2009. NOAA lists 21 significant eruptions of 4 volcanoes in or off Guatemala. The largest was Santa Maria on October 25, 1902, at 6 on the volcanic explosivity index. It killed 10,000 people by NOAA’s count.
The events
- July 17, 2026Earthquake · M 7.360 km WSW of Puerto Madero, MexicoUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- May 28, 2009Tsunami · 4 m hereOff Coast Of HondurasNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- 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
- December 26, 1917Earthquake · M 6.0Guatemala City · 2,650 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- October 25, 1902Eruption · VEI 6Santa Maria · 10,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- April 19, 1902Earthquake · M 7.5Near Quetzaltenango, Guatemala · 2,000 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- July 29, 1773Earthquake · M 7.5 (est.)Antigua · 100 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- October 24, 1765Earthquake · M 7.5 (est.)Chiquimula, QuetzaltepequeNOAA NCEI
- November 24, 1539EarthquakeCabo De HiguerasNOAA NCEI
Good to know
- An event counts for Guatemala when it began inside its borders, or at sea within 100 km of its coast (so one can count for two neighbours), or further out, up to 300 km, where Guatemala is the nearest country.
- 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.
- The map frames the box around Guatemala, its neighbours’ quakes included, so its count runs higher than this page’s.
- 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