Earthquakes in Guatemala Today
Guatemala lies where three plates meet: the Cocos plate subducts beneath its Pacific coast, while the Motagua and Polochic faults mark the boundary between the North American and Caribbean plates. The 1976 Motagua earthquake (Mw 7.5) killed around 23,000 people.
Danger Level (72h)
72-hour composite hazard forecast
Recent Quakes (30d)
Recorded in the last 30 days
Max Magnitude (30d)
Largest earthquake in the last 30 days
Quezaltenango, Guatemala
11mo ago•143 km•Felt by about 12,562,429 people
Recent earthquakes
20Counts cover the seismic belts this platform monitors in Guatemala, not its administrative borders. A monitored belt can reach across a border, and events there are listed with the country of their epicentre.
Monitored regions
Volcanoes of Guatemala
3 dedicated profiles · 20 Holocene volcanoes in total
Tectonic setting
Guatemala lies where three plates meet: the Cocos plate subducts beneath its Pacific coast, while the Motagua and Polochic faults mark the boundary between the North American and Caribbean plates. The 1976 Motagua earthquake (Mw 7.5) killed around 23,000 people.
Frequently asked questions
How often do earthquakes occur in Guatemala?
Our catalogue recorded 116 earthquakes across the 1 seismic belts monitored in Guatemala over the last 30 days, the strongest reaching M5.6.
Why are there so many earthquakes in Guatemala?
Guatemala lies where three plates meet: the Cocos plate subducts beneath its Pacific coast, while the Motagua and Polochic faults mark the boundary between the North American and Caribbean plates. The 1976 Motagua earthquake (Mw 7.5) killed around 23,000 people.
What is the emergency number in Guatemala?
The emergency number in Guatemala is 119, answered by CONRED (police 110). After strong shaking, keep the line free for those trapped or injured and check official channels for aftershock and tsunami advisories.
Who monitors earthquakes in Guatemala?
The national seismic authority is Instituto Nacional de Sismología, Vulcanología, Meteorología e Hidrología (INSIVUMEH). EarthquakeLive cross-checks its bulletins against 18 international networks, so an event may appear here with a slightly different magnitude until the agencies converge on a final solution.