temblor

American  

[tem-bler, -blawr, tem-blawr] / ˈtɛm blər, -blɔr, tɛmˈblɔr /

noun

temblors, plural temblores plural

1. a tremor; earthquake.

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temblor British  

/ ˈtɛmblə, -blɔː /

noun

1. an earthquake or earth tremor

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Usage

What does temblor mean? Temblor is another word for an earthquake or a tremor. A temblor can also be called a trembler or a tremblor. These terms are all less commonly used than earthquake and tremor. The plural of temblor is temblors, but temblores is also sometimes used as a plural (due to the fact that temblor came from Spanish and this is how it is pluralized in Spanish). Example: The temblor that hit the area last month shook the whole city for more than a minute.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• temblores
  plural
• temblors
  plural

Etymology

Origin of temblor

An Americanism first recorded in 1895–1900; from Spanish: literally, “a quaking,” equivalent to tembl(ar) “to quake” (perhaps ultimately from Latin timēre “to fear” and Late Latin tremulāre “to quake”) + -or noun suffix; see tremble, -or ¹

Compare meaning

How does temblor compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• temblor vs. earthquake

Explanation

A temblor is another name for an earthquake. Feeling a temblor shake the ground under your feet can be terrifying, even when it's a fairly small one. The word temblor has been commonly used in American Spanish since the 19th century. It comes from a Spanish word meaning "a trembling." So if you ever have the experience of feeling the ground tremble beneath you or watching the dishes on your kitchen shelf trembling as your whole house shakes, you can describe it as an earthquake or a temblor.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

temblor temblors

Then, 39 seconds later, an even stronger 7.5-magnitude temblor struck.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

A relatively loose definition involves an earthquake followed by another temblor of a similar magnitude within minutes, hours or days after the first main shock.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

A 7.2-magnitude quake hit at 5:04 p.m., quickly followed by a 7.5-magnitude temblor.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

The last major temblor on the West Tahoe fault, along Lake Tahoe’s western shore, is capable of an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 to 7.4.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026

When there is an earthquake—or a "temblor," to use the Spanish name—it is the rock foundation that is disturbed, not the sand, which, indeed, serves to lessen the effect of the earth tremor.

From The San Francisco calamity by earthquake and fire by Morris, Charles

The temblors — with epicenters about 100 miles west of Caracas — were the deadliest to hit Venezuela in almost a century.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

The temblors occurred just a few miles from cities like Highland, Muscoy, Lake Arrowhead and Rialto.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 10, 2025

Since the quakes, the anger of many survivors has centered on the lax construction practices that allowed so many defective buildings to rise across a region with a history of powerful temblors.

From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2024

In 2013, the state started offering grants to help homeowners retrofit older homes in areas at high risk of temblors.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 17, 2024

There were still temblors, but the sharper shocks no longer came.

From Operation: Outer Space by Leinster, Murray

Related Words

• earthquake
• upheaval