Earthquakes in Guatemala
Guatemala is squeezed between two seismic systems. The Motagua and Polochic faults, marking the boundary between the North American and Caribbean plates, cut straight across the country, while off the Pacific coast the Cocos plate subducts beneath the Caribbean plate at the Middle America Trench.
The 1976 Guatemala earthquake (M7.5) ruptured the Motagua fault, killed around 23,000 people and left more than a million homeless — one of Central America's worst disasters. Both the fault zone and the offshore trench keep the country highly active.
The figures below are drawn live from the EarthquakeIndex archive for the area shown. No one can predict when the next earthquake will strike — but you can follow every event the moment EMSC records it.
Guatemala seismic activity at a glance
- 8,132 Earthquakes on record
- 1,703 In the last 12 months
- M7.3 Strongest ever 2026
- M2.8 Most recent 16 Oct 2026
Recent earthquakes in Guatemala
The last 30 days, newest first.
| Date | Magnitude | Depth | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| M2.8m | 22 km | Offshore El Salvador | |
| M4.0m | 85 km | Offshore Chiapas, Mexico | |
| M3.8m | 10 km | Offshore El Salvador | |
| M4.8mb | 110 km | Chiapas, Mexico | |
| M3.8m | 47 km | Offshore El Salvador | |
| M4.7mb | 16 km | Offshore Chiapas, Mexico | |
| M3.0m | 9 km | Offshore Guatemala | |
| M3.0m | 24 km | Offshore El Salvador | |
| M4.4mb | 45 km | Offshore Guatemala | |
| M4.5mb | 45 km | Offshore Guatemala | |
| M3.8m | 40 km | Offshore Guatemala | |
| M4.2m | 39 km | Offshore Guatemala | |
| M4.3m | 25 km | Offshore El Salvador | |
| M3.7m | 187 km | Chiapas, Mexico | |
| M4.0m | 200 km | El Salvador | |
| M3.2m | 1 km | Guatemala | |
| M2.6m | 91 km | Guatemala | |
| M3.5m | 7 km | Guatemala | |
| M3.0m | 28 km | Offshore Guatemala | |
| M2.7m | 4 km | Guatemala |
Live data from the EarthquakeIndex archive · source EMSC.
Explore Guatemala on the live map →