August 9, 1980 Earthquake: Izabel Province, Honduras, N Guatemala
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Izabel Province, Honduras, N Guatemala on August 9, 1980 at 05:45:09 UTC, 22 km below the surface. It killed 2 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
- August 9, 1980
- Time
- 05:45:09 UTC
- Place
- Izabel Province, Honduras, N Guatemala
- Magnitude
- 6.4 (Ms)
- Magnitude scales
- Ms 6.4 · mb 6.1
- Focal depth
- 22 km (14 mi)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 15.888° N, 88.516° W
- Country
- Honduras
- Region
- Central America
- USGS record
- The USGS’s page for this earthquake
Ms: surface-wave magnitude. mb: body-wave (P-wave) magnitude. NCEI’s headline magnitude is the best of these for the earthquake.
The toll
- Deaths
- 2
- 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.
From Wikipedia
The 1980 Honduras earthquake struck just offshore Honduras on August 9 at 05:45 UTC. Two people were killed and many injured.
Text from Wikipedia, “1980 Honduras earthquake”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted as written; the full article has the rest.
Magnitude estimates
The magnitudes the USGS catalog lists for this earthquake, by scale and by who computed them. NCEI’s own scales are in the table above.
| Mag. | Scale | Computed by | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.4 | Ms, surface-wave | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 6.48 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 6.5 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Two people killed, many injured and damage in Izabal Province, Guatemala. Damage reported in northern Honduras. (reference #1053)
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #1053 National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) (1971 to 2013). Preliminary Determination of Epicenters (PDE), a weekly and monthly publication, National Earthquake Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Golden, Colorado, 1971 to 2013.
- #1232 International Seismological Centre (1964-1990). Regional Catalogue of Earthquakes, 1964-1990, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- February 4, 1976, Chimaltenango, Guatemala City
- September 29, 1982, Honduras-Guatemala-El Salvador
- July 11, 1999, W, Izabal-Puerto Barrios, Honduras, Guatemala
- November 24, 1539, Cabo DE Higueras, Honduras
- August 4, 1856, Coast, Honduras
- October 19, 1820, Omoa, San Pedro Sula, Honduras
- December 3, 1934, San Jorge, LA Encarnacion, San Fernando, Honduras
- December 29, 1915, Gracias, El Salvador, Honduras
- April 10, 2013, Atlantida, Honduras
More
Significant earthquakes of 1980The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1980Recent 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 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 4890. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event usp00019aw, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.