USGS Reports 5.6-magnitude Earthquake in Guatemala

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported late on Sunday night at 22:32 local time that a magnitude 5.6 earthquake had struck the Central American nation of Guatemala. According to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre, the epicentre of the earthquake was 67 kilometres southwest of its capital Guatemala City. However, residents of Guatemala City said that they had not felt the tremors, and if indeed they had, it was not with the intensity of the Richter scale reading recorded by the earthquake. The USGS had reported that the epicentre of the earthquake was 100 kilometres below the surface.

This earthquake comes in the wake of the recent eruption of the Fuego volcano that had killed at least 110 people, leaving another 150 or more people unaccounted for. The epicentre for this earthquake is thought to be a distance of no more than 18 kilometres from the sight of the volcano. While no reports of the relationship between these two events has yet been released, it seems to stand to reason that such a link is due to be studied to better understand what has happened, as well as what could be on the horizon.

Guatemala’s disaster agency issued a statement in which it said that “all is calm.” So far, no reports of damage or human casualties resulting from this earthquake have been reported. This quake comes close on the heels of a 6.1-magnitude earthquake that struck the city of Osaka in Japan, at around the same time. In addition, the lava flows of Kilauea on Hawaii’s Big Island have given rise to speculation about the increased seismic activity in the Pacific Rim.