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: February 16, 2022
Time: 07:12:22 UTC
Place: Baja Verapaz, Guatemala, Quezaltenango
Magnitude: 6.2 (Mw)
Focal depth: 60 km (37 mi)
Intensity: VIII, severe shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
Tsunami: None recorded
Epicenter: 14.148° N, 91.398° W
Country: Guatemala
Region: Central America
USGS record: The USGS’s page for this earthquake

The toll

Deaths: 3
Injuries: 2
Damage: Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
Houses destroyed: 2
Houses damaged: 31

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 2022 Guatemala earthquake occurred on the early morning of February 16, 2022 in the southern regions of Guatemala. The quake measured a moment magnitude of 6.2 and reached a peak intensity of VI (Strong) on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale. Damage was widespread but light in and around the capital, Guatemala City, resulting mostly in cracked walls and rockslides.

Text from Wikipedia, “2022 Guatemala earthquake”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted as written; the full article has the rest.

Wikidata records: 3 deaths and 2 injured. These are counts entered by Wikidata’s editors; they may differ from the official count, and this page never adds them to another figure. Q110940947, CC0.

What happened

The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.

Three people died from heart attacks; 1 at Baja Verapaz, 1 at Guatemala City and 1 at Quetzaltenango. Two people injured, 2 houses destroyed and 31 damaged and landslides and power outages occurred in the Guatemala City area.

From the USGS event page for us7000gl8w. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.

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
6.2	Mww, W-phase moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Confirmed · ±0.033 · 86 stations
6.1	mb, body-wave	NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center	First automatic solution · Reviewed · ±0.9 · 22 stations
6.0	Mi	NOAA National Tsunami Warning Center	First automatic solution · Reviewed · 19 stations
6.2	Mwb, body-wave moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Moment tensor · Confirmed
6.2	Mww, W-phase moment	USGS, automatic first solution	First automatic solution · Confirmed

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

3 deaths: 1 Baja Verapaz; 1 Guatemala; 1 Quetzaltenango. 20 houses light damage, 11 houses moderate damage, 2 house severe damage. (reference #13169)

Three people died from heart attacks; 1 at Baja Verapaz, 1 at Guatemala City and 1 at Quetzaltenango. Two people injured, 2 houses destroyed and 31 damaged and landslides and power outages occurred in the Guatemala City area. Cotzumalguapa, Escuintla, Guatemala - CDI: 8; Escuintla, Escuintla, Guatemala - CDI: 8; Mazatenango, Suchitepequez, Guatemala - CDI: 7; Alotenango, Sacatepequez, Guatemala - CDI: 7; Asuncion Mita, Jutiapa, Guatemala - CDI: 7 (reference #13456)

Sources NCEI cites

The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.

#13169 Coordinadora Nacional Para La Reduccion De Desastres (CONRED), Guatemala (2022). Informe General: Sismo 6.2 16/02/2022. Published 17 February 2022, 16:00.
#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.
#13456 U.S. Geological Survey (2017 to present). Earthquake Hazards Program, Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) Comprehensive Catalog of Earthquake Events and Products.

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

More

Significant earthquakes of 2022 The 2000s Every quake the USGS located in 2022 Recent earthquakes near here This 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 10602. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event us7000gl8w, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.