An earthquake of magnitude 4.8 occurred only 24 minutes ago 61 km southwest of San Salvador, El Salvador, the United States Geological Survey reported.The quake hit at a moderately shallow depth of 62.20 km beneath the epicenter near San Salvador, Departamento de San Salvador, El Salvador, in the morning on Thursday, April 23rd, 2026, at 8:09 am local time. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.A second report was later issued by Geoscience Australia (GeoAu), which listed it as a magnitude 5.0 earthquake. Other agencies reporting the same quake include The Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) at magnitude 4.8, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) at magnitude 4.8, the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) at magnitude 4.9, and the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake at magnitude 4.9.Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter. Weak shaking might have been felt in La Libertad (pop. 16,900) located 35 km from the epicenter, San Marcos (pop. 54,600) 58 km away, San Salvador (pop. 526,000) 61 km away, Mejicanos (pop. 160,300) 65 km away, Cuscatancingo (pop. 44,400) 65 km away, Delgado (pop. 71,600) 65 km away, and Soyapango (pop. 329,700) 65 km away.Other towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Apopa (pop. 112,200) located 74 km from the epicenter, San Vicente (pop. 41,500) 85 km away, and Santa Ana (pop. 176,700) 91 km away.VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you’re in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.Earthquake data: Date & time: Apr 23, 2026 08:09 am (GMT -6) local time (23 Apr 2026 14:09 GMT)Magnitude: 4.8Depth: 62.20 kmEpicenter latitude / longitude: 13.19°N / 89.41°W (Departamento de San Salvador, El Salvador)Primary data source: USGS