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Stories from the Field: Increasing Natural Hazard Resiliency in Guatemala

Guatemala is geologically located at the boundaries between the North American, Caribbean, and Cocos tectonic plates. Large-magnitude earthquakes and volcanic eruptions present significant geohazards for the people of Guatemala. GWB’s current project titled, “Increasing Natural Hazard Resiliency in Guatemala,” enhances the seismic monitoring capabilities of Guatemala’s Instituto Nacional de Sismología, Vulcanología, Meteorología e Hidrología (INSIVUMEH), which is United States Geological Services equivalent.

The project team is collaborating with regional firefighting/Emergency Management Technicians groups, participating in community outreach events to increase public awareness, and providing education support for geoscience students in Guatemala. 

GWB funding has been further elevated by contributions from private donors and the University of Tulsa’s in-kind support.  21 RaspberryShake seismic sensors were purchased to augment the existing INSIVUMEH seismic network.  These low-cost sensors are fully integrated into the regional seismic network and contribute to the event detection, location and Earthquake Early Warning System (EEWS) capabilities within INSIVUMEH.

This GWB project is managed by the non-governmental organization, “Hearts in Motion (HIM). HIM has an in-country staff in Guatemala, which enables efficient operations by coordinating training with Guatemala’s emergency and firefighting network. 

A GWB project RaspberryShake 3C sensor was installed at the San José de Pacul school to augment the INSIVUMEH National Seismic Network, (RSN). A workshop was held for students, teachers and parents, covering earthquake principles, precautions and preparations.  David Barral, Guatemalan project participant, is shown presenting the material to the workshop participants. Courtney- Irene Liguria

Many of the GWB seismic sensors have been installed in firefighting facilities.  This increases collaboration between INSIVUMEH’s geohazard monitoring efforts and disaster first responder teams.

Project activities are divided into four categories:

  • Regional seismicity monitoring is integrated with an EEWS.
  • Seismic monitoring of Volcan Pacaya or Pacaya volcano. This was also the site of one of the first Guatemalan GWB volcano projects in 2016.
  • Community outreach / collaboration with first responders.
  • Geoscience student support through an internship program at INSIVUMEH.
A GWB project RaspberryShake 3C sensor was installed at the San José de Pacul school to augment the INSIVUMEH National Seismic Network, (RSN). A workshop was held for students, teachers and parents, covering earthquake principles, precautions and preparations.  David Barral, Guatemalan project participant, is shown presenting the material to the workshop participants. Courtney- Irene Liguria

This project initiated in March 2022 and is scheduled to officially conclude in August 2025.  Project goals include increasing community resilience from two types of geohazards, regional large-magnitude earthquakes and volcanic eruptions near populated areas, that threaten the population of Guatemala. 21  low-cost RaspberryShake 3C seismometers were funded and installed to augment the existing Guatemalan regional seismicity array managed by INSIVUMEH.  These GWB sensors are fully integrated into the regional array and contribute to the EEWS.   A broadband 3C seismometer was installed on the southeast flank of Volcan Pacaya, providing small offset and azimuthal monitoring of this active volcano.  As part of knowledge transfer efforts, all GWB sensors will remain in Guatemala to be managed by INSIVUMEH after August 2025.  Plans for a second phase of this project are also being planned.

This GWB project funded three Guatemalan geoscience students’ internship programs at INSIVUMEH.  As of March 2025, all three are completing their research and are on track to graduate in Spring 2025.

An interesting aspect of this project was developing a rapid response protocol within INSIVUMEH to study earthquake swarms.  On five occasions, earthquake swarms were detected and the INSIVUMEH team was able to quickly deploy two or more RaspberryShake sensors in their immediate vicinity.  This “plug and play” characteristic of the low-cost sensor allowed quick response to areas of increased seismicity rates.  Sensor deployment often took place within 24 hours.

The rapid response, capacity building and knowledge transfer to the local organization are the goals that this project set out to achieve in Guatemala and is on track to complete. The biggest outcome will be the lives saved in a future event owing to the joint effort of all local agencies working in collaboration using their newly gained technical knowledge, geophysical equipment, and capacities.

Learn more about this project and progress.

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