Lake Chichoj is located within 2 km of the Chixoy-Polochic fault, a major fault of the North America-Caribbean plate boundary, which constitutes the closest and largest seismic hazard for San Cristóbal Verapaz, but lies within a broader array of large to intermediate seismogenic faults. The latest noticeable earthquakes include a  M 4.1 quake in 2006 on the Polochic fault and a M4.8 in June 2009 on a secondary fault, NW of the lake. The sediments of the lake host a rich record of disruptions produced by past earthquakes, most notably  the M 7.8  February 4th 1978 earthquake on the Motagua fault as well as a series of older M 7 earthquakes along  the Polochic fault between 850 CE and 1450 CE.  The lake adds hazard to the ground shaking of earthquakes.  The low-lying marshlands that surround the lake are increasingly filled and urbanized. They are susceptible to seismic wave amplification, seismic wave refraction, and soil liquefaction during earthquakes, but also susceptible to flooding during earthquakes if the lake spillovers. Large waves can be produced during earthquakes, either as a result of landslides affecting the lake inner slopes, or by seismic resonance (seiche waves).