April 20, 1765 Earthquake: Chiquimula, El Salvador, Guatemala
An earthquake struck Chiquimula, El Salvador, Guatemala on April 20, 1765. It killed 50 people.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- April 20, 1765
- Place
- Chiquimula, El Salvador, Guatemala
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 13.700° N, 89.200° W
- Country
- El Salvador
The toll
- Deaths
- 50
- Injuries
- Many (about 101 to 1,000)
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
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.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
April 1765. According to handwritten documents of the Convent of Santo Domingo cited by Larde (S. F.), in 1765 there were many earthquakes since March and in San Salvador nobody slept in their homes. On April 14 an earthquake "ruined temples and made other breakdowns in San Cristobal, Ilopango, San Martin Gilotepeque, San Pedro Perulapán, San Bartolome Perulapia, another town and San Juan Cojutepeque". There were landslides in the drainage of Lake Ilopango.
In its catalog, Vassaux (1969) notes for April 20 strong earthquakes that seriously affected the city of Chiquimula causing more than 50 dead and many wounded: subsequently developed a smallpox epidemic that increase the number of victims. The latter event is dated June 20 by Rockstroh (1903) and June 21 by Montessus (1888).
(above from reference #124)
April, 1765, Central America, San Salvador, San Cristoval, Llopango, San Martin, San Pedro-Perulapam, San Partolome-Perulapilla, intensity III which corresponds to an earthquake which destroyed towns and devastated districts. (reference #1055)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- February 4, 1976, Chimaltenango, Guatemala City
- December 26, 1917, Guatemala City
- April 19, 1902, Quezaltenango, San Marcos, Guatemala
- October 10, 1986, San Salvador, El Salvador
- May 6, 1951, Jucuapa, El Salvador
- April 14, 1854, San Salvador, El Salvador
- January 13, 2001, El Salvador, Guatemala
- March 4, 1873, Santa Tomas, San Vicente, El Salvador
- June 3, 1773, St. Jago, Guatemala
- December 19, 1936, San Vicente, El Salvador
- February 13, 2001, San Juan Tepezontes-San Vicente-Cojutep, El Salvador
- April 11, 1873, Salvador,san Vicente, El Salvador
- September 3, 1874, Antigua,chimaltenango,amatitlan, Guatemala
- February 26, 1902, El Salvador-Guatemala
- May 3, 1965, San Marcos, El Salvador
More
Significant earthquakes of 1765The 1700sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 1374.