How frequent are earthquakes in El Salvador?

El Salvador has a very high level of seismic activity. Based on data from the past 25 years and our earthquake archive back to 1900, there are about 1,900 quakes on average per year in El Salvador. El Salvador has had at least 9 quakes above magnitude 7 since 1900, which suggests that larger earthquakes of this size occur infrequently, probably on average approximately every 10 to 15 years.

How many earthquakes occur every year in El Salvador?

On average, El Salvador has about 759 quakes of magnitude 3 or higher per year (Mag 4+: 131 quakes per year, Mag 5+: 7.1 quakes per year).

Volcanoes of El Salvador (30)

Go to: Eruptions FAQ Quakes News

There are 20 potentially active volcanoes in El Salvador. They belong to the circum-pacific Ring of Fire, and are related to the oblique subduction of the oceanic Cocos Plate under the Caribbean tectonic plate.

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Significant volcanic eruptions: El Salvador

In historic times, at least 5 volcanoes have been active in El Salvador, including San Miguel, Santa Ana, and Izalco volcanoes. A total of 108 eruptions have been witnessed and documented since around 1510 AD.
The table below lists the most recent volcanic eruptions, significant eruptive episodes or related events in El Salvador since 1900.

Date	Volcano	VEI	Region	Deaths
2022 Nov 15 - 2023 May 27	San Miguel	2	El Salvador
2020 Feb 22	San Miguel	1	El Salvador
2018 Jan 14 - Mar 4 ±4 d.	San Miguel Summit crater	1	El Salvador
2017 Jan 7	San Miguel Summit crater	1	El Salvador
2016 Jun 18	San Miguel Summit crater	1	El Salvador
2016 Jan 12 - Jan 18	San Miguel Summit crater	1	El Salvador
2015 Aug 13	San Miguel Summit crater	1	El Salvador
2015 Jan 26 - Apr 11	San Miguel Summit crater	1	El Salvador
2013 Dec 29 - 2014 Jul 28	San Miguel Summit Crater	3	El Salvador
2005 Jun 16 - Oct 1 ?	Santa Ana	3	El Salvador
2005 Oct 1 (eruption 2005 Jun 16 - Oct 1 ?)	Santa Ana	3	El Salvador	2	Info
2005 Oct 1: Two persons were killed at the settlement of Palo de Campana, on the NE flank, possibly due to landslides associated with heavy rainfall. (reference #9675) A 1 October 2005 eruption at Santa Ana (also called Ilamatepec) sent a plume to 14 km altitude and led to initial estimates cited in the press of two deaths (perhaps from landslides), several injuries, and the evacuation of over 2,000 people. (reference #2432) Cited references #2432 Venzke, E., R.W. Wunderman, L. McClelland, T. Simkin, J.F. Luhr, L. Siebert, and G. Mayberry (eds.) (2002-): Global Volcanism, 1968 to the Present. Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program Digital Information Series, GVP-4 (http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/). #9675 Siebert, Lee, Tom Simkin, Paul Kimberly (2010): Fatalities & Evacuations, Volcanoes of the World, Third Edition, Geoscience Press, Inc., University of California Press, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., p. 329-347. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Earthquake Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K
2002 Jan 16	San Miguel	1	El Salvador
1997 Dec 31	San Miguel	1	El Salvador
1995 Jan 12 - Apr 19	San Miguel	1	El Salvador
1985 Nov 16 ±15 d. - 1986 Feb 16 ±15 d.	San Miguel	1	El Salvador
1976 Dec 2 - 1977 Mar 1	San Miguel	1	El Salvador
1970 Mar 30 - Apr 5	San Miguel	1	El Salvador
1967 Jan 5	San Miguel	2	El Salvador
1966 Oct 28 - Nov 16 ±15 d.	Izalco SSE flank (550 m below summit)	0	El Salvador
1966 Jul 16 ±15 d.	San Miguel	2	El Salvador
1966 Feb 22	San Miguel	2	El Salvador
1965 Jun 14	San Miguel Summit crater	2	El Salvador
1964 Oct 23 - Nov 16 ±15 d.	San Miguel	2	El Salvador
1948 Nov 4 - 1957 Dec 1 ±30 d.	Izalco Summit, SW and NE flanks	3	El Salvador
1954 Oct 21	San Miguel	2	El Salvador
1939 Feb - 1948 Feb	Izalco Summit and SSE flank	2	El Salvador
1939 May - Jul	San Miguel	2	El Salvador
1937 ? - 1938 ?	Izalco	2?	El Salvador
1933 Nov 30 - 1934 Jan 12 or later	Izalco	2	El Salvador
1931 Mar - Jun	San Miguel	2	El Salvador
1931 Mar 31 ±90 d.	Izalco	2	El Salvador
1930 Apr	Izalco Outer slope of eastern summit crater	?	El Salvador
1930 Jan 26 ±5 d.	San Miguel	2	El Salvador
1929 Aug	San Miguel	2	El Salvador
1927 - 1928 ?	Izalco	2	El Salvador
1925 Dec 26 - 1927 Jan	Izalco	3?	El Salvador
1920 Aug 14 - 1925	San Miguel	2	El Salvador
1924 Mar	Izalco	2	El Salvador
1920 Oct 29 - 1921 Apr 10	Izalco SE flank	2	El Salvador
1920 Oct 29 (eruption 1920 Oct 29 - 1921 Apr 10)	Izalco	3	El Salvador	1-50 (*)	Info
1920 Oct 29: Deaths probably occurred in pyroclastic flow. Cited references #1412 Simkin, Tom, and Lee Siebert with the collaboration of Russell Blong, Jonathan Dehn, Christopher Newhall, Roland Pool, and Thomas C. Stein (1994): Volcanoes of the World, Second Edition, A Regional Directory, Gazetteer, and Chronology of Volcanism During the Last 10,000 Years, Geoscience Press, Inc., Tucson, Arizona, in association with Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program, Washington, D.C., p. 164-176. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Earthquake Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K
1919 Dec 10 - 1920 Jan	San Miguel	2	El Salvador
1917 Jun 7 - Nov	San Salvador Boquerón summit and north flank	3	El Salvador
1917 Jun 7 (eruption 1917 Jun 7 - Nov)	San Salvador	3	El Salvador	325	Info
1917 Jun 7: CAVW and Roy make no mention of fatalities in this eruption but Jaggar reports some people caught and killed in lava flow; several hundred were killed and many wounded when 15 towns including capital destroyed by volcanogenic earthquake on same day. Cited references #1412 Simkin, Tom, and Lee Siebert with the collaboration of Russell Blong, Jonathan Dehn, Christopher Newhall, Roland Pool, and Thomas C. Stein (1994): Volcanoes of the World, Second Edition, A Regional Directory, Gazetteer, and Chronology of Volcanism During the Last 10,000 Years, Geoscience Press, Inc., Tucson, Arizona, in association with Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program, Washington, D.C., p. 164-176. #1628 various (1951-1975): Catalogue of the Active Volcanoes of the World including Solfatara Fields. Rome: International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, 22 volumes. [vol.s are listed individually in NGDC's Reference Database.] #1642 Jaggar, T.A. (1931): The Volcanoes of Central America. The Volcano Letter, 355: 1-3. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Earthquake Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K
1912 Jan 16 - 1916 Jan 26	Izalco Summit and NE flank	2	El Salvador
1903 Nov - 1905 Mar	Izalco Summit and east flank	2	El Salvador
1904 Jan 12 - Jan 26 ?	Santa Ana	2	El Salvador
1902 May 10 - Dec 30	Izalco Summit and NE flank	2	El Salvador
1899 Dec 31 - 1900 Mar	Izalco	2	El Salvador

(*) Estimated numbers

Remark:

Our list of volcanic eruptions closely follows the database of eruptions of the Smithsonian's Global Volcanism Project (GVP), the internationally most recognized data source for volcanic eruptions, but also includes significant eruptive episodes or related volcano events. "Volcanic eruptions" are usually to be understood as sequences of individual eruptive episodes that can follow each other, or even overlap (if several vents are involved), and can last many years, decades or even longer. For example, the current activity of Stromboli volcano is understood as a single eruption that has been ongoing since 1934.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Volcanic Eruptions Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K | Global Volcanism Project / Smithsonian Institution

El Salvador FAQ

+When was the last volcanic eruption in El Salvador?

The last volcanic eruption in El Salvador was from San Miguel volcano during 2022 - 2023.

+When was the first documented volcanic eruption in El Salvador?

The first historically documented eruption occurred around 1510 AD from San Miguel volcano.

+How often do volcanoes in El Salvador erupt?

Since 1510 AD, El Salvador has seen at least 108 historically documented eruptions. This means that a volcano erupts on average every 4.8 years.

+How active are the volcanoes in El Salvador?

El Salvador is volcanically very active: Since 1900, at least 4 volcanoes in El Salvador have been active.Since 1900, El Salvador has had 44 volcanic eruptions from 4 individual volcanoes. Volcanic eruptions have been recorded erupted during 69 years out of 126 as of now. This means, at least one volcano in El Salvador has been in eruption in one in 1.8 years on average. The last volcano to erupt in El Salvador was San Miguel volcano. Its was active from 2022 until 2023 and ended 2 years ago.

+When was the largest volcanic eruption in El Salvador?

The largest eruption in El Salvador in historic times was from San Miguel volcano. It occurred during 2013 - 2014. It ranks as a "vulcanian" eruption with a magnitude 3 on the VEI (Volcanic Explosivity Index) scale.

Latest earthquakes: El Salvador

In the past 7 days, El Salvador was shaken by 4 quakes of magnitude 4.0 or above, 17 quakes between 3.0 and 4.0, and 15 quakes between 2.0 and 3.0. There were also 2 quakes below magnitude 2.0 which people don't normally feel.

A magnitude 4.8 quake was felt in North Pacific Ocean, El Salvador 5 days ago.

Magnitude 4.8 Earthquake North Pacific Ocean, El Salvador widely felt - 5 days ago

Date and Time	Mag / Depth	Nearest Volcano / Location
Apr 28, 10:22 am (GMT -6) 1 day 18 hours ago	4.3 23 km	84 km (52 mi) S of San Salvador	North Pacific Ocean, 79 km south of Santa Tecla, El Salvador I FELT IT - 3 reports	Info
Apr 28, 10:22 am (GMT -6) 1 day 18 hours ago	4.3 39 km	82 km (51 mi) S of San Salvador	Offshore EL Salvador I FELT IT - 1 report	Info
Saturday, April 26, 2025 GMT (1 quake)
Apr 26, 08:54 am (GMT -6) 4 days ago	4.1 29 km	84 km (52 mi) S of Usulután	North Pacific Ocean, 76 km south of Usulutan, El Salvador I FELT IT	Info
Friday, April 25, 2025 GMT (1 quake)
Apr 25, 08:11 am (GMT -6) 5 days ago	4.8 63 km	70 km (43 mi) S of San Salvador	42 km SSW of La Libertad, El Salvador I FELT IT - 24 reports	Info
Thursday, April 24, 2025 GMT (2 quakes)
Apr 24, 06:10 am (GMT -6) 6 days ago	3.9 33 km	72 km (45 mi) S of Ilopango	44 km Al Suroeste De Delta Del Rio Lempa, El Salvador I FELT IT	Info
Apr 24, 06:10 am (GMT -6) 6 days ago	3.9 55 km	70 km (43 mi) S of Ilopango	Offshore EL Salvador I FELT IT	Info

See Recent Quakes

Significant Earthquakes in El Salvador since 1900

The deadliest earthquake in El Salvador since 1900 was the magnitude 5.4 earthquake in

El Salvador, Departamento de San Salvador on Oct, 10, 1986. It resulted in 1,100 fatalities and 20,000 injured people. This was the most disastrous quake in El Salvador ever recorded. This was also the most damaging earthquake that occurred in this time: total economic losses were estimated to the equivalent of $1.5 billion US Dollars. An unknown number houses and other buildings were destroyed and an unknown number damaged.

Date	Mag	Region	Deaths	Damage
2019 May 30	6.6	San Salvador	1	light	Info
2018 May 6	5.4	La Union, San Miguel	0	moderate	Info
2017 Apr 10	4.8	San Salvador, Soyapango	1	light	Info
2015 Aug 9	4.5	Alegria	0	moderate	Info
2011 Nov 24	5.1	El Salvador-guatemala	0	light	Info
2001 May 8	5.7	Conchagua	1	moderate	Info
2001 Feb 13	6.6	San Juan Tepezontes-san Vicente-cojutep	315	very heavy	Info
2001 Jan 13	7.7	El Salvador; Guatemala	844	very heavy	Info
1986 Oct 10	5.4	San Salvador	1,100	catastrophic	Info
1982 Jun 19	6.2	San Salvador; Guatemala	43	moderate	Info
1965 May 3	6.0	San Marcos	125	heavy	Info
1937 Dec 26	?	Ahuachapan, Atiquizaya, Turin, La Puerta	0	heavy	Info
1936 Dec 19	?	San Vicente	400	unknown	Info
1932	?	Zacatecoluca, San Juan, Nonualco	0	heavy	Info
1919 Apr 28	5.9	San Salvador	50-100 (*)	heavy	Info
1917 Jun 8	6.7	San Salvador	100-1,000 (*)	very heavy	Info
1902 Feb 26	7.0	El Salvador-guatemala	185	heavy	Info

(*) Estimated numbers

Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Earthquake Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K

All Quakes in History

Map

Oldest quakes (until 1960) are shown in yellow, most recent (from 2000) in red.

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Significant Earthquakes in El Salvador FAQ

+Which was the deadliest earthquake in El Salvador since 1900?

The deadliest earthquake in El Salvador since 1900 was the magnitude 5.4 earthquake in El Salvador, Departamento de San Salvador on Oct, 10, 1986. It resulted in 1,100 fatalities and 20,000 injured people. This was the most disastrous quake in El Salvador ever recorded.

+How many people were killed by earthquakes in El Salvador since 1900?

Since 1900, at least 12 earthquakes claimed an estimated total of 3,615 fatalities in El Salvador.

+How much damage did earthquakes cause in El Salvador since 1900?

There were 16 damaging or deadly quakes during this period that caused economic losses of approx. $2.9 billion US Dollars combined.

Volcano List

Apaneca Range

(stratovolcanoes 2036 m / 6,680 ft)

Apaneca Range (Cuyanausul Range) is a group of E-W trending stratovolcanoes and geothermal areas located in western El Salvador, between the Santa Ana complex and the Guatemala border, about 6 km SE of Ahuachapin town. The volcanoes are basaltic-to-andesitic and Pleistocene and H... [more info]

Apastepeque

(volcanic field 700? m / 2,297 ft)

Apastepeque volcano is a young volcanic field 8 km north of San Vicente town in central El Salvador. The Volcanic features contains about 24 closely spaced cinder cones, lava flows, lava domes, and maars. The latter are now filled by lakes, such as Laguna de Apastepeque and Lagun... [more info]

Cerro Buena Vista

(Stratovolcano 750 m / 2461 ft)

[more info]

Cerro Cacahuatique

(Stratovolcano 1500 m / 4921 ft)

[more info]

Cerro Cinotepeque

(volcanic field 665 m / 2,182 ft)

Cerro Cinotepeque volcano is a group of 4 young cinder cones on both sides of Río Lempa, about 40 km north of San Salvador city.
Cerro Cinotepeque (also spelled Cinotepec) lies south of the river, 2 other cones, Cerro Santiago and Cerro Mosquito, immediately north of the ri... [more info]

Cerro las Tablas

(Stratovolcano(es) 782 m / 2566 ft)

[more info]

Cerro Lolotique

(Unknown 804 m / 2638 ft)

[more info]

Cerro Singüil

(cinder cones 957 m / 3,140 ft)

Cerro Singüil (also known as El Cerron) is a large scoria cone SE of Volcán Chingo in the interior valley of El Salvador near the Guatemalan border. The volcano has a well-preserved summit crater and belongs to a young volcanic field of cinder cones and explosion craters. [more info]

Cerro Yayantique

(Stratovolcano(es) 613 m / 2011 ft)

[more info]

Chinameca

(stratovolcano 1300 m / 4,265 ft)

Chinameca volcano (also known as El Pacayal) is a small stratovolcano next to the larger San Miguel volcano in eastern El Salvador. It is connected to San Miguel across a low saddle to the SE.
Chinameca is truncated by a 2-km-wide, steep-sided caldera, Laguna Seca el Pacay... [more info]

Coatepeque

(caldera 746 m / 2,447 ft)

Coatepeque volcano is a large 7 x 10 km wide caldera 50 km west of San Salvador city. The caldera is elongated in SE-NW direction, with walls rising up to 800 m above the floor in its southwestern part. An up to 120 m deep and 5 km diameter lake occupies the eastern part of the c... [more info]

Conchagua

(stratovolcano 1225 m / 4,019 ft)

Conchagua volcano (also known as Cochague) is an eroded stratovolcano on the western side of the Gulf of Fonseca in at the southeastern tip of El Salvador.
The main summit of Conchagua is Cerro del Ocote, but the secondary summit Cerro de La Bandera to the ENE of the elonga... [more info]

Conchagüita

(stratovolcano 505 m / 1,657 ft)

Conchagüita volcano at the SE tip of El Salvador forms a small 4-km-wide island in the Gulf of Fonseca separated from Conchagua volcano across a narrow strait.
The volcano is a sharp-topped cone with a 100-m-wide summit crater at the southern end and contains a young lava ... [more info]

Guazapa

(stratovolcano 1438 m / 4,718 ft)

Guazapa volcano an eroded basaltic stratovolcano 23 km NE of San Salvador city. It is not known whether the Pleistocene volcano is still active. It shows signs of intense erosion that have cut deep valleys into its flanks, suggestin a very long dormany period, and there is no cra... [more info]

Ilopango

(caldera 450 m / 1,476 ft)

Ilopango volcano is a 8x11 km wide caldera at the eastern margin of San Salvador city, El Salvador. It is elongated to the east, has 150-500 m high walls and contains the scenic Lake Ilopango, one of El Salvador's largest.
The caldera is the result of at least 4 large plini... [more info]

Isla Meanguera

(Stratovolcano(es) 468 m / 1535 ft)

[more info]

Isla Zacatillo

(Pyroclastic cone(s) 158 m / 518 ft)

[more info]

Izalco

(stratovolcano 1950 m / 6,398 ft)

Izalco volcano, El Salvador (image courtesy: Angela Rucker, USAID)

Izalco volcano was born in 1770 and is the youngest volcano in El Slavador. It formed on the southern flank of Santa Ana volcano located 45 km NW of San Salvador city.
Frequent strombolian eruptions and sometimes lava flows have built a largely unvegetated cone 650 m high w... [more info]

Laguna Aramuaca

(maar 181 m / 594 ft)

Laguna Aramuaca volcano is a lake-filled explosion crater (maar) 10 km SE of the city of San Miguel in southeastern El Salvador.
The crater is 1 km wide and might have formed less than 10,000 years. The phreatomagmatic eruptions that formed it left spectacular pyroclastic ... [more info]

Los Limones Volcanic Field

(Pyroclastic cone(s) 420 m / 1378 ft)

[more info]

Masahuat Volcanic Field

(Stratovolcano 1005 m / 3297 ft)

[more info]

San Diego

(volcanic field 781 m / 2,562 ft)

San Diego volcano is a young basaltic volcanic field near Lake Güija at the border between El Salvador and Guatemala. It contains cinder cones and unvegetated, fresh-looking lava flows.
The lava flows from San Diego volcanic field have created a natural dam to form Lake Güi... [more info]

San Miguel

(stratovolcano 2130 m / 6,988 ft)

San Miguel volcano (also known locally as Chaparrastique) in eastern El Salvador is a symmetrical stratovolcano and one of the most active volcanoes of the country. It rises majestically from near sea level to 2130 m elevation and forms a prominent land mark.
The volcano's ... [more info]

San Salvador

(stratovolcano 1893 m / 6,211 ft)

San Salvador volcano is a massive stratovolcano immediately northwestwest of El Salvador city. Its modern summit cone is also called the Boqueron stratovolcano. It formed within a 6 km wide caldera left by the collapse of the predecessor volcano about 40,000 years ago. Remnants o... [more info]

San Vicente

(stratovolcano 2182 m / 7,159 ft)

San Vicente volcano (also known as Chichontepec) is a twin-peaked stratovolcano SE of Lake Ilopango. It is the second highest volcano in El Salvador and probably still active although there are no known historical eruptions. There are many hot springs and fumaroles on the norther... [more info]

Santa Ana

(stratovolcano 2381 m / 7,812 ft)

Santa Ana (also known as Ilamatepec) volcano is a stratovolcano about 45 km west of San Salvador city. It is El Salvador's highest volcano and one of its most active.
The broad summit of Santa Ana has a beautiful array of concentric craters with crescent-shaped rims.
more info]

Taburete

(stratovolcano 1172 m / 3,845 ft)

Taburete volcano is a basaltic to basaltic-andesite stratovolcano rising above the Pacific coastal plain east of the Río Lempa in El Salvador, located at the SW end of a cluster of volcanoes between San Vincente and San Miguel volcanoes.
Volcan Taburete contains a well-pres... [more info]

Tecapa

(stratovolcano 1593 m / 5,226 ft)

Tecapa volcano a complex basaltic-to-andesitic stratovolcano in east-central El Salvador. It is located at the NW end of a cluster of volcanoes east of the Río Lempa between San Vicente and San Miguel volcanoes. [more info]

Unnamed

(Volcanic field 377 m / 1237 ft)

[more info]

Usulután

(stratovolcano 1449 m / 4,754 ft)

Usulután volcano is a stratovolcano in east-central El Salvador, at the SE end of a cluster of basaltic to basaltic-andesite stratovolcanoes between San Vicente and San Miguel volcanoes.
The volcano contains a broad 1.3-km-wide summit crater breached to the east. The flank... [more info]

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San Miguel volcano (Eastern El Salvador) - Smithsonian / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report for 24 May-30 May 2023 (Continuing Activity)

MARN reported that seismicity at San Miguel was detected on 23 May and remained elevated. At 1647 on 27 May an explosion generated a gas-and-ash plume that rose 700 m; seismicity decreased afterwards. Sulfur dioxide emissions were as high as 400 tons per day that same day based on measurements from an instrument located on the W flank, and then decreased to 268 and below 100 tons per day on 28 and 29 May, respectively. ... Read all

Mon, 29 May 2023, 05:35

San Miguel volcano (El Salvador): near-constant eruptions continue

The explosion from San Miguel volcano on 27 May (image: Ministerio de Medio Ambiente)

The explosive eruption at the volcano continues at roughly regular intervals. ... Read all

Tectonic setting of El Salvador (from: Agostini et al, 2006)

Source:
Agostini et al (2006) "Tectonic and magmatic evolution of the active volcanic front in El Salvador: insight into the Berlín and Ahuachapán geothermal area", Geothermics, v.35, pp. 368–408