An earthquake of magnitude 5.5 occurred early evening on Wednesday, August 12th, 2026, at 6:30 pm local time near San Miguel, Departamento de San Miguel, El Salvador, as reported by the United States Geological Survey.According to preliminary data, the quake was located at a moderately shallow depth of 56.79 km. 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 the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake, which listed it as a magnitude 5.5 earthquake as well. Other agencies reporting the same quake include the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) at magnitude 5.5, and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) at magnitude 5.5.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 Chirilagua (pop. 6,400) located 70 km from the epicenter, Puerto El Triunfo (pop. 19,100) 80 km away, Usulutan (pop. 51,900) 84 km away, La Union (pop. 26,800) 94 km away, and San Miguel (pop. 247,100) 98 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: Aug 12, 2026 06:30 pm (GMT -6) local time (13 Aug 2026 00:30 GMT)Magnitude: 5.5Depth: 56.79 kmEpicenter latitude / longitude: 12.61°N / 88.29°W (El Salvador)Primary data source: USGS