1942 Guatemala earthquake

Edit links
Coordinates: 13°47′N 90°55′W / 13.78°N 90.91°W / 13.78; -90.91
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
1942 Guatemala earthquake
1942 Guatemala earthquake is located in Central America
1942 Guatemala earthquake
UTC time1942-08-06 23:37:02
ISC event900408
USGS-ANSSComCat
Local dateAugust 6, 1942
Local time17:37
MagnitudeMw 7.7 [1]
Ms 7.9 [2][3]
Depth35 km (22 mi)
Epicenter13°47′N 90°55′W / 13.78°N 90.91°W / 13.78; -90.91
Areas affectedGuatemala
Casualties38 killed

The 1942 Guatemala earthquake occurred at 17:37 local time on August 6 and had ratings of 7.7 on the

surface wave magnitude scale. The epicenter was located off the southern coast of Guatemala,[4]
and it was one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded there.

The earthquake caused widespread damage in the west-central highlands of Guatemala. Thirty-eight people died in the earthquake. Landslides caused by the combination of the earthquake and the heavy seasonal rains destroyed roads, the

department of Chimaltenango, more than 60% of the houses were demolished. Damage was reported in some buildings in Antigua Guatemala, including the Palacio de Los Capitanes Generales and some catholic churches.[5][6] The earthquake could also be felt strongly in Mexico and El Salvador.[7]

This earthquake was a lower crustal intraplate earthquake with a compressional focal mechanism.[3][8][page needed] Tensional activity has been dominant along the down-dip edge along the 1942 rupture zone.[9] It was estimated that earthquakes near the Middle America Trench with magnitudes of about 7.5~8.0 occurred at intervals of 94 ± 54 yrs in southwestern Guatemala. Such historical earthquakes included the earthquakes in 1765, 1902, and 1942.[10]

See also

References

  1. ISBN 978-0124406520
  2. ^ Dmowska & Lovison 1988, p. 657
  3. ^
    doi:10.1016/0031-9201(84)90082-7, archived from the original
    (PDF) on 2010-07-23, retrieved 2012-08-04
  4. ^ Monzón-Despang, Héctor (February 1996), La construcción y el uso del terreno en Guatemala : Su vulnerabilidad sísmica (PDF), Asociacion Guatemalteca de Ingenieros Estrucurales, pp. 107–121, retrieved August 3, 2012[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ ABC (August 11, 1942). "Mundo Hispanoamericano – Fuerte seísmo en Guatemala. Ocho muertos y cuarenta heridos". ABC. p. 17. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
  6. ^ "Sismología". Instituto Nacional de Sismología, Vulcanología, Meteorología e Hidrología. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
  7. ^ "Historic Earthquakes — Guatemala, 1942 August 06 23:36 UTC". United States Geological Survey. Archived from the original on 2016-04-30. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
  8. ^ Dmowska & Lovison 1988
  9. hdl:2027.42/27966
    .
  10. ISBN 978-0-8137-2375-4
    .

Sources

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1942_Guatemala_earthquake&oldid=1194004876"