M4.5 earthquake near Chinandega, Chinandega Department, Nicaragua
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck near Chinandega, Chinandega Department, Nicaragua at 13:55 local time (19:55 UTC) on 4 Nov 2026, at a depth of 159 km, according to USGS and GFZ.
Reported by 2 agencies
Data: USGS, GFZ · updated 2026-11-04 20:26 UTC · reviewed
- Magnitude
- 4.5light
body-wave magnitude (mb) - Depth
- 159 km
- Status
- Reviewed
- Origin time
- 2026-11-04 19:55:26 UTC
- Local: 4 Nov 2026, 13:55:26 (America/Managua)
- Epicentre
- 12.631° N, 87.154° W
Circles show this event and others within 30 km from 7 days before to 30 days after. Lines: plate boundaries and GEM active faults. Open on the live map
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Est. shaking |
|---|---|---|
| ChinandegaChinandega Department, Nicaragua · pop. 126,387 | 3 km | INot felt |
| El ViejoChinandega Department, Nicaragua · pop. 53,504 | 4 km | INot felt |
| ChichigalpaChinandega Department, Nicaragua · pop. 33,137 | 15 km | INot felt |
| LeónLeón Department, Nicaragua · pop. 144,538 | 37 km | INot felt |
| ManaguaManagua Department, Nicaragua · pop. 973,087 | 113 km | INot felt |
| TegucigalpaFrancisco Morazán Department, Honduras · pop. 850,848 | 161 km | INot felt |
| SoyapangoSan Salvador Department, El Salvador · pop. 329,708 | 246 km | INot felt |
| San SalvadorSan Salvador Department, El Salvador · pop. 525,990 | 250 km | INot felt |
Shaking is an estimate from the intensity prediction equation of Allen, Wald & Worden (2012), not an observation. Local ground and buildings can change it by a level or more.
Every agency's solution
Agencies locate earthquakes with their own stations and methods, so their numbers differ. We match reports of the same event by time, distance and magnitude and show them side by side. The headline uses USGS, which has been reviewed by an analyst.
How big was it?
Widely felt near the epicentre: rattling windows and objects. Significant damage is unlikely.
It released roughly the energy of 85 t of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step means about 32 times more energy and 10 times larger waves on a seismogram. Depth matters too: at 159 km this was a intermediate-depth earthquake, which spreads shaking over a wider area but less intensely.
M4.5 releases about 32× the energy of M3.5, and its waves are about 10× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 85 t of TNT vs 2.7 t of TNT.
Each square is the energy of one M3.5. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.
Aftershocks and nearby activity
No later earthquakes have been recorded within 30 km so far. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.
Did you feel it?
Reports from people help show where shaking was strong. They are anonymous and shown here in aggregate.
Reports on SeismoAtlas
No reports yet.
Event id us7000tw3k. First recorded here 4 Nov 2026, 20:27:39 UTC. Solutions: USGS (usgs:us7000tw3k); GFZ (geofon:gfz2026vqkw). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M4.5 earthquake near Chinandega, Chinandega Department, Nicaragua”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/us7000tw3k-m4-5-earthquake-near-chinandega-chinandega-department-nicaragua, data from USGS, GFZ.
JSON: /api/v1/events/us7000tw3k. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.