Location:

Period:

9 Dec 2024 03:13:46 - 14 Dec 2024 06:53:52 (5 days 3 hours 40 minutes)

Volcanoes in 100km radius:

Aramuaca, Laguna(25km), Tigre, Isla del(29km), Zacate Grande, Isla(31km), San Miguel(41km), Chinameca(49km), Cosiguina(51km), Tigre, El(59km), Usulutan(61km), Tecapa(67km), Taburete(68km)

Earthquakes:

195

2 swarms found nearby.

2001

PS20010115.1(100.5km)

14 Jan

2 days 2 hours

9 earthquakes

2018

S20180506.1(16.2km)

6 May

2 days 0 hours

35 earthquakes

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Seismic Swarm Activity in El Salvador: Analysis of Event S20241209.2

El Salvador occupies a highly active tectonic setting within the Pacific Ring of Fire. The country lies above the subduction zone where the Cocos Plate descends beneath the Caribbean Plate, generating frequent earthquakes and fueling the Central American Volcanic Arc. This convergent margin produces both interplate and intraplate seismicity, with many events occurring at shallow to intermediate depths along the volcanic front and associated fault systems.

Swarm S20241209.2 began at 03:13 on 9 December 2024 and concluded at 06:53 on 14 December 2024, spanning 123 hours and 40 minutes. During this period, 195 earthquakes were recorded. The first 100 events displayed magnitudes between 2.5 and 5.6, with the majority occurring at depths of 1–15 km. The sequence opened with a magnitude 3.9 event at 3 km depth, followed shortly by the largest shock of magnitude 5.6 at 10 km. Subsequent activity remained predominantly shallow, consistent with crustal faulting rather than deeper subduction processes.

Temporal distribution showed peak rates in the initial 24 hours, followed by a gradual decline. Depths clustered between 2 and 10 km for most events, suggesting activation of near-surface structures possibly linked to volcanic or regional fault networks. No events exceeded magnitude 5.6 within the examined subset, and the overall energy release remained moderate.

Historical records since 2000 indicate only two prior swarms in the region: one in 2001 and another in 2018. These earlier episodes were limited in event count compared with the 2024 swarm, highlighting the relative rarity of such clustered activity in the modern instrumental catalog.

The December 2024 swarm fits within El Salvador’s established pattern of episodic seismic unrest driven by plate convergence and local fault interactions. Shallow focal depths align with known crustal deformation zones near the volcanic arc. Continued monitoring remains essential given the country’s exposure to both seismic and volcanic hazards.

References

U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Catalog
Servicio Nacional de Estudios Territoriales (El Salvador) seismic reports
Central American Seismic Data archives (2000–2024)