Motagua-Polochic Fault
Guatemala · continental transform · 6960.5 km of mapped active fault in 60 traces
background as of 7 November 2026.
consistent with baseline
| Window | the last 30.0 days |
|---|---|
| Earthquakes counted | 0 at M4.5 or above |
| Expected in that window | 0.16 |
What this system normally does
From 1995 to 2025 the catalogue holds 60 earthquakes of M4.5 or larger attributable to this system: about 2.00 a year. That figure is what "elevated" on this page is measured against.
The fault itself
| Mapped length | 6960.5 km |
|---|---|
| Traces | 60 |
| Tectonic setting | continental transform |
| Slip types | Normal, Sinistral, Dextral |
| Depth attributed to it | down to 50.0 km |
| Extent | 13.97 to 16.98 latitude, -93.65 to -86.50 longitude |
Recorded history
NOAA's hazard records hold 26 significant earthquakes and 3 tsunamis attributed to this system since 1717.
The deadliest was the 4 February 1976 magnitude 7.5 earthquake (Guatemala: Chimaltenango, Guatemala City), which killed 23,000 people.
The strongest earthquake on record here was magnitude 7.9, on 30 May 1776 (El Salvador).
The most recent entry is the 29 July 2025 magnitude 5.7 earthquake (El Salvador-guatemala), which killed one person.
Across the entries that record a death toll, 26,140 people died.
| Date | What | Where | Toll |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 February 1976 | magnitude 7.5 earthquake | Guatemala: Chimaltenango, Guatemala City | 23,000 dead, 255,000 homes destroyed, $2,147 million damage |
| 4 February 1976 | tsunami (waves to 0.1 m) | Guatemala | 23,000 dead, 255,000 homes destroyed, $2,147 million damage |
| 26 December 1917 | magnitude 6.0 earthquake | Guatemala: Guatemala City | 2,650 dead, damage over $25 million |
| 3 September 1874 | magnitude 7.1 earthquake | Guatemala: Antigua, Chimaltenango, Amatitlan | 300 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 29 July 1773 | magnitude 7.5 earthquake | Guatemala: Antigua | 100 dead, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 18 September 1991 | magnitude 6.2 earthquake | Guatemala: Guatemala City, Pachuta, Solola | 25 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 22 July 1816 | magnitude 7.5 earthquake | Guatemala: Soloma | 23 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 29 July 1978 | magnitude 4.5 earthquake | Guatemala: Patzun | 17 dead, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 7 September 1915 | magnitude 7.7 earthquake | El Salvador | 7 dead, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 8 July 2025 | magnitude 5.7 earthquake | Guatemala: Guatemala City, Escuintla, Sacatepequez | 7 dead, 531 homes destroyed, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 13 March 1976 | magnitude 5.1 earthquake | Guatemala | 4 dead, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 29 September 1982 | magnitude 5.1 earthquake | Honduras-guatemala-el Salvador | 3 dead, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 11 July 1999 | magnitude 6.7 earthquake | Guatemala: Izabal-puerto Barrios; Honduras: W | 2 dead, 7 homes destroyed, damage $1 to 5 million |
| 29 July 2025 | magnitude 5.7 earthquake | El Salvador-guatemala | 1 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 19 September 2011 | magnitude 5.6 earthquake | Guatemala: Cuilapa Santa Rosa | 1 dead, damage under $1 million |
| 30 May 1776 | magnitude 7.9 earthquake | El Salvador | damage $5 to 25 million |
| 4 August 1856 | magnitude 7.5 earthquake | Honduras: Coast | damage $5 to 25 million |
| 29 September 1717 | magnitude 7.4 earthquake | Guatemala: Antigua | 3,000 homes destroyed, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 12 June 1870 | magnitude 7.2 earthquake | Guatemala: Chiquimulilla | damage $5 to 25 million |
| 4 February 1921 | magnitude 7.1 earthquake | Mexico-guatemala | damage under $1 million |
| 9 December 1859 | magnitude 7.0 earthquake | El Salvador; Guatemala; Nicaragua | damage $5 to 25 million |
| 29 December 1915 | magnitude 6.6 earthquake | El Salvador; Honduras: Gracias | damage $1 to 5 million |
| 20 December 1862 | magnitude 6.5 earthquake | Guatemala; El Salvador | damage $5 to 25 million |
| 18 January 1902 | magnitude 6.3 earthquake | Guatemala: San Martin, Quezaltenango | damage under $1 million |
| 4 August 1856 | tsunami (waves to 5 m) | Bay of Honduras | damage $5 to 25 million |
These are the 25 deadliest and largest of 29 entries. A dash means NOAA recorded no number, not that nobody died. Older entries are fewer because fewer were written down, not because less happened.
Recorded history: NOAA NCEI hazard databases, public domain, retrieved 2026-10-22.
Who to listen to if you live here
CONRED, National Disaster Reduction Coordinator is the agency that tells people on this system what to do. https://conred.gob.gt/ (in Spanish)
Where these numbers come from
Fault geometry, length and segment counts: GEM Global Active Faults Database (GEM GAF-DB), GEM Foundation, https://github.com/GEMScienceTools/gem-global-active-faults Licence: CC-BY-SA-4.0. Figures derived from it here are offered under the same licence. Earthquake counts, magnitudes and depths: United States Geological Survey, public domain. The activity judgement is ours, computed from those two inputs, and is not a statement by either agency.