May 6, 1938 Earthquake: Leon (Telica Volcano Destroyed), Nicaragua

Date

May 6, 1938

Time

18:17:00 UTC

Place

Leon (Telica Volcano Destroyed), Nicaragua

Tsunami

None recorded

Epicenter

12.300° N, 86.900° W

Country

Nicaragua

Region

Central America

USGS record

The USGS’s page for this earthquake

Damage

Severe (about $5 to $25 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.

1. #1199 Leeds, David J. (1974). Catalog of Nicaraguan Earthquakes 1520-1973. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, vol. 64, no. 4, p. 1135-1158.

• December 23, 1972, Managua, NicaraguaM6.2 · 10,000 deaths · $3 billion · 88 km
• March 31, 1931, Managua, NicaraguaM5.6 · 2,450 deaths · $15 million · 164 km
• May 6, 1951, Jucuapa, El SalvadorM6.5 · 1,100 deaths · $23 million · 125 km
• March 31, 1930, Managua, Nicaragua1,000 deaths · $15 million · 79 km
• September 2, 1992, Masachapa, Costa Rica, NicaraguaM7.6 · 170 deaths · $30 million · 1,500 houses destroyed · 118 km
• July 6, 2000, Masaya, NicaraguaM5.4 · 7 deaths · 357 houses destroyed · 109 km
• May 21, 1932, El Salvador, Honduras, NicaraguaM7.1 · 5 deaths · 144 km
• April 10, 2014, Nagarote, Managua, NicaraguaM6.1 · 2 deaths · $3 million · 168 houses destroyed · 58 km
• September 28, 2016, Leon, NicaraguaM5.5 · 1 death · 6 houses destroyed · 45 km
• October 14, 2014, Gulf of Fonseca, El SalvadorM7.3 · 1 death · 5 houses destroyed · 135 km
• October 12, 1885, Leon,chinandega,managua, Nicaragua11 km
• April 25, 1938, Leon,chinandega, Nicaragua11 km
• May 9, 1963, Leon, NicaraguaM5.5 · 11 km
• January 24, 1956, Puerto Samoza, NicaraguaM7.3 · 24 km
• 1648, Leon, Nicaragua25 km

Significant earthquakes of 1938The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1938Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history

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 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 3616. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event iscgem902474, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.