On Sunday Morning a Strong M6.2 Earthquake struck in the North Pacific Ocean near San Salvador (El Salvador).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on January 5th, 2025. Last updated January 7th, 2025.

In the morning of Sunday January 5th, 2025, a strong Magnitude 6.2 earthquake hit in the North Pacific Ocean 71 kilometer from San Salvador, El Salvador. Earthquakes like this can cause significant economic damage and have a significant risk at casualties. Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua are also near its epicenter.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the North Pacific Ocean, 38 kilometers (24 mi) off the coast of El Salvador, 71 kilometer south of San Salvador. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 50 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Jan 5, 2025 11:18AM (El Salvador Time) - Jan 5, 2025 17:18 Universal Time.
Location:	71 km south of San Salvador, El Salvador. Coordinates 13°3'11"N 89°10'20"W.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 6.2 Detected by 88 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.033 .
Depth:	50 km (31 mi) A quite shallow depth.
Max. Intensity:	VI Strong On the Modified Mercalli Scale.
Tsunami Risk:	Low tsunami risk Earthquakes under MAG-6.5 do not usually cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here.

Significant impact predicted

Based on scientific estimates by the US Geographic Survey (USGS), the risk of high fatalities for this earthquake is classified at level YELLOW (significant). They expect an 50% likelyhood of between 0 and 1 fatalities, and a 99% chance that the number of fatalities falls no higher than 100.

The USGS classifies the economic impact of this earthquake at level YELLOW (significant). They expect an 42% likelyhood of between 0 and 1 million US Dollars in economic damage and impact, and a 95% chance that the economic impact of this earthquake falls no higher than 100 million USD.

Roughly 16 million people exposed to shaking

The USGS has published a report estimating the number of people exposed to this earthquake. Acoording to their analysis, roughly 16 million have been exposed to shaking at an MMI level of II or higher.

Strong shaking and probably light damage may have been experienced by an estimated 147,400 people. At VI, it is the highest MMI level this earthquake has caused. Intensity level III was experienced by a large group of people (around 8 million). In their region, weak shaking and probably no damage can be expected.

People in 4 countries have been exposed to shaking. In El Salvador , around 6.6 million people, with impact levels up to VI (strong shaking, probably light damage). Roughly 7.5 million people were exposed to shaking in Guatemala . In Honduras , around 2.2 million people. In Nicaragua, shaking was experienced too.

Nearby towns and cities

El Salvador , Guatemala , Honduras and Nicaragua are all located within 300km distance of the epicenter of the earthquake. Futher away, this earthquake may also have been felt in Mexico.

La Libertad in La Libertad, El Salvador is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 51 kilometer (32 mi) south-southeast of La Libertad. The intensity of shaking and damage in La Libertad is estimated to be around level V on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale (moderate shaking, very light damage).

Multiple large cities are in proximity of today's earthquake. San Salvador is located 71 km to the north and experienced an intensity of V (moderate shaking, very light damage). Soyapango is located 73 km to the north and experienced an intensity of V (moderate shaking, very light damage). Guatemala City is located 228 km to the northwest and experienced an intensity of III (weak shaking, probably no damage).

An overview of nearby towns and cities is available in the overview below. If places don't have intensity data available, it likely means the experienced impact in those places was fairly small.

Overview of nearby places

Earthquake Intensity Map

The maximum intensity (MMI Scale) caused by this earthquake is VI. The map below shows in which areas this earthquake was the most and least impactful. It is based on data from the US Geographic Survey.

I Not felt

II Weak

III Weak

IV Light

V Moderate

VI Strong

VII Very Strong

VIII Severe

IX Violent

X Extreme

Shaking reported by 122 people in 5 countries

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 122 people have reported shaking in 54 places in 5 countries (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua).We keep updating this article as more ground reports become available. You may report that you felt this earthquake here.

Places with most reports:

• Antiguo Cuscatlán, La Libertad, El Salvador: 18 people.
• San Salvador, San Salvador, El Salvador: 12 people.
• Nueva San Salvador, La Libertad, El Salvador: 10 people.
• Mejicanos, San Salvador, El Salvador: 8 people.
• Santa Catarina Pinula, Guatemala, Guatemala: 5 people.
• La Libertad, La Libertad, El Salvador: 5 people.
• Nuevo Cuscatlán, La Libertad, El Salvador: 5 people.
• Ilopango, San Salvador, El Salvador: 4 people.
• San Luis la Herradura, La Paz, El Salvador: 3 people.
• Soyapango, San Salvador, El Salvador: 2 people.

23 Aftershocks detected

After this earthquake struck, 23 smaller aftershocks occurred. At a distance of 15 km (9 mi) east-southeast of this earthquake, an aftershock struck 12 hrs later. It measured a magnitude of 4.5

This main shock was prefaced by 5 smaller foreshocks. Nearby this earthquake a foreshock struck 1 day earlier. It measured a magnitude of 4.5

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

More earthquakes coming?

Earthquakes can create aftershocks. These are generally at least 1 magnitude lower than any main shock, and as time passes the chance and strength of aftershocks decreases.

In only six percent of cases, significant earthquakes are followed by a larger main shock, making the current earthquake a foreshock. While the chance of this happening is not so large, it is adviced to maintain cautiousness in the hours and days following a major earthquake.

Earthquakes like this are common in the region

Earthquakes of this strength occur quite regularly in the region. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since July 19th, 2023, when a 6.5 magnitude earthquake hit 122 km (76 mi) further east-southeast. An even stronger magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck on November 24th, 2016.

In total, 7 earthquakes with a magnitude of 6.2 or higher have been registered within 300km (186 mi) of this epicenter in the past 10 years. This comes down to an average of once every year.

Low tsunami risk

Based on early data it appears this earthquake was not strong enough (lower than MAG-6.5) to be likely to cause destructive tsunami's. However this earthquake appeared to have hit at a shallow depth under sea, so stay cautious and monitor advice from local authorities.

Tsunami Risk Factors

Sources

Last updated 07/01/25 14:48 (). As more information on this earthquake becomes available this article will be updated. This article is automatically composed based on data originating from multiple sources.

1. US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us6000pi09
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20250105_0000177
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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