Guatemala earthquakes

M7.4 earthquake 33 km S of Champerico, Guatemala

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck 33 km S of Champerico, Guatemala on Wed, Nov 7, 2012, 10:35 AM CST (16:35 UTC), 24 km (15 mi) below the surface.

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Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 7.4 (mww), major
Local time: Wed, Nov 7, 2012, 10:35 AM CST
UTC: 2012-11-07 16:35:46 UTC
Depth: 24.0 km (14.9 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 13.988° N, 91.895° W
Region: Guatemala
Felt reports: 728
Strongest shaking: VII, very strong shaking
PAGER alert: Yellow
Tsunami flag: No
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

Deaths and damage

From NOAA NCEI’s Significant Earthquake Database (record 9942), matched to this event by time and place.

Deaths: 48
Injuries: 155
Damage: $210 million
Houses destroyed: 2,769
Houses damaged: 7,561

Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA’s full record of this earthquake The tsunami it caused

Shaking

The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.

Strongest estimated: VII, very strong shaking
Peak ground acceleration: 34.1% of gravity
Peak ground velocity: 3.7 cm/s
Map: Automatic

USGS ShakeMap: estimated shaking intensity around the epicenter — Estimated shaking intensity. Map: USGS ShakeMap.

Did you feel it?

728 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was VIII, severe shaking.

Estimated impact

The USGS PAGER system estimates deaths and economic losses from the shaking and the population and buildings exposed to it.

Alert level: Yellow: some damage and deaths possible, a local or regional response

Deaths: estimated chance of each range
Range	Chance
Under 1	4%
1 to 10	16%
10 to 100	33%
100 to 1,000	31%
1,000 to 10,000	13%
10,000 to 100,000	3%
100,000 to 10,000,000	Under 1%

Economic losses: estimated chance of each range
Range, million USD	Chance
Under 1	3%
1 to 10	15%
10 to 100	32%
100 to 1,000	32%
1,000 to 10,000	14%
10,000 to 100,000	3%
100,000 to 10,000,000	Under 1%

Fault motion and ground failure

How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.

Faulting: Reverse (thrust)
Nodal plane 1: Strike 285°, dip 23°, rake 70°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 126°, dip 69°, rake 98°
Landslide alert: Green
Liquefaction alert: Red

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Depth from: OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
Station coverage gap: 26°
Stations used: 751

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 4.4 and up: 80 in the 60 days after this one and 6 in the 30 days before it.

After

The first 60 of 80.

Before

Earthquakes today Guatemala earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000jv5f (also filed as usb000dlwm, choy20121107163546, iscgem601879562, atlas20121107163546). Read Thu, Sep 24, 2026, 1:40 PM UTC.