June 12, 1870 Earthquake: Chiquimulilla, Guatemala
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Chiquimulilla, Guatemala on June 12, 1870.
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
- June 12, 1870
- Place
- Chiquimulilla, Guatemala
- Magnitude
- 7.2
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 14.083° N, 90.383° W
- Country
- Guatemala
The toll
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Many (101 to 1,000)
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.
1870, June 12. Complete ruin of Chiquimuililla and several other villages in the south-east of Guatemala. Intensity III. (reference #1908)
1870, June 1-11. Guatemala, Guatemala, towns and villages destroyed. Intensity III which corresponds to an earthquake which destroyed towns and devastated districts. (reference #1055)
1870 June 12, at 3 p.m. strong seismic activity begins in the region of Cuilapa, Ixhuatan and Chiquimulilla, the latter population suffered heavy damage. The tremor at 6.23 p.m. seriously affected the town of Cuilapa. (reference #14059)
1870 June 12, VIII: Chiquimulilla, VII: Santa Rosa, Jutiapa (G), western Sonsonate (S). completely destroyed; damaged; earthquakes began 4/12, continued past 7/15 [15 sec]. (reference #14066)
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
- April 14, 1854, San Salvador, El Salvador
- March 4, 1873, Santa Tomas, San Vicente, El Salvador
- June 3, 1773, St. Jago, Guatemala
- February 13, 2001, San Juan Tepezontes-San Vicente-Cojutep, El Salvador
- September 3, 1874, Antigua,chimaltenango,amatitlan, Guatemala
- April 11, 1873, Salvador,san Vicente, El Salvador
- February 26, 1902, El Salvador-Guatemala
- May 3, 1965, San Marcos, El Salvador
- July 29, 1773, Antigua, Guatemala
- April 20, 1765, Chiquimula, El Salvador, Guatemala
- November 7, 2012, San Marcos, San Cristobal Cochu, Guatemala
More
Significant earthquakes of 1870The 1800sRecent 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 10208.