Earthquakes in Guatemala, 1927–2026
From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 107 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Guatemala. 12 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. 33 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 26 of the events here, 23,598 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 lists 5 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 14 significant eruptions of 3 volcanoes in or off Guatemala. The largest was Fuego on January 21, 1932, at 4 on the volcanic explosivity index. The deadliest was Fuego on June 3, 2018, which killed 201 people by NOAA’s count.
The events
- July 17, 2026Earthquake · M 7.360 km WSW of Puerto Madero, MexicoUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- June 3, 2018Eruption · VEI 2Fuego · 201 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- November 7, 2012Earthquake · M 7.433 km S of Champerico, Guatemala · 48 deaths (NOAA)USGS · 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
- April 29, 1970Earthquake · M 7.334 km SW of Puerto Madero, MexicoUSGS
- August 6, 1942Earthquake · M 7.726 km SSW of La Gomera, GuatemalaUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- December 14, 1935Earthquake · M 7.34 km SSW of Puerto Madero, MexicoUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- January 21, 1932Eruption · VEI 4FuegoNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- November 2, 1929Eruption · VEI 3Santa Maria · 200 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
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