2007 Guatemala earthquake

2007 Guatemala earthquake

Date	June 13, 2007 (2007-06-13)
Magnitude	6.7 Mw
Depth	23 kilometres (14 mi)
Epicenter	13°37′23″N 90°47′49″W / 13.623°N 90.797°W / 13.623; -90.797
Countries or regions	Guatemala
Tsunami	none
Casualties	0

The 2007 Guatemala earthquake occurred on June 13, 2007 occurred at 19:29:46 UTC (13:29:46 local time). The epicenter was located in the Pacific Ocean, south of Puerto Quetzal, about 115 kilometres (71 mi) south-southwest of Guatemala City.^[1]

The quake was reportedly felt in Guatemala, El Salvador and parts of Mexico. The quake caused a minor landslide on the Inter-American Highway, and small number of houses were reported to have been damaged or destroyed along Guatemala's south coast,^[2] but there were no reports of major damages or casualties.^[1]

While the USGS assigned a magnitude of 6.7 for this event,^[1] many local seismological agencies in Guatemala,^[3] El Salvador and Nicaragua only registered the quake in the 5.5 – 6.0 range.^{[citation needed]} These calculations are more accurate due to the seismographs' locations closer to the epicenter, and are in agreement with the minor shaking reported by residents.^{[citation needed]}

In addition, the USGS coins all movements as earthquakes, while in Latin America, small movements such as this one are called tremors ("temblores" in Spanish).^[4] This misnomer confused the international community into thinking this event was much larger and more severe than it really was.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Earthquakes in Guatemala

References