Unlike the obliquely convergent boundary in Sumatra, where the strike-slip element is accommodated by displacement along the trench parallel Great Sumatran fault, no major NW-SE trending fault structure is known in Nicaragua.

The most commonly mapped faults are SW-NE trending left lateral in type.

[2] The perceived shaking reached between VII to VIII on the Mercalli intensity scale close to Laguna de Apoyo and up to VI in Managua and Masaya.

[1] Most of the houses in the affected area were of poor construction, typical for rural parts of Nicaragua.

[5] The shaking caused many landslides, particularly on the slopes of the Laguna de Apoyo crater walls.