How did the 1976 earthquake affect Guatemala during the civil war?

The devastating earthquake of February 1976 significantly impacted Guatemala during its long-running civil war by severely depleting the nation's resources. The disaster resulted in more than 20,000 deaths and left approximately 1,000,000 people homeless, causing extensive damage to both urban centers and surrounding villages.123

During this period, the administrations of Kjell Laugerud García and Romeo Lucas García were forced to confront the country's ongoing political and social challenges with these greatly reduced resources. Despite the humanitarian crisis caused by the earthquake, the government continued to employ repressive measures to address leftist violence and insurgency, maintaining the cycle of conflict that characterized the era. The earthquake exacerbated the instability of the state, which was already struggling with inflation, political division, and the persistent challenges of the civil war.12