This is a partial list of earthquakes in Mexico. This list considers every notable earthquake felt or with its epicenter within Mexico's current borders and maritime areas.
This is a partial list of earthquakes in Mexico. This list considers every notable earthquake felt or with its epicenter within Mexico's current borders and maritime areas.
Mexico lies within two seismically active earthquake zones. The Baja California peninsula lies near the boundary of the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate, while southern Mexico lies just north of the boundary between the North American Plate and the Cocos and Rivera tectonic plates. The Cocos Plate is subducting under the North American Plate at a rate of 67 mm (0.220 ft) per year, while the Pacific and Rivera plates are moving northwest relative to the North American Plate. Southern Mexico also contains numerous faults, which causes that section of the country to have high tectonic activity. Northeastern Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula are not as seismically active as the area close to the boundary between the North American and Cocos plates, but destructive earthquakes can still occur in those areas.
| Date | Area | Mag. | MMI | Deaths | Injuries | Total damage / notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-09-22 | Michoacán | 6.8 Mw | VII | 3 | 5 | Aftershock | |
| 2022-09-19 | Michoacán | 7.6 Mw | VIII | 2 | 35 | Severe damage | [1] |
| 2022-06-21 | Jalisco | 2.4 Mw | Severe damage | [2] [3] | |||
| 2022-03-03 | Veracruz | 5.7 Mw | IV | Minor damage | [4] [5] | ||
| 2021-09-07 | Guerrero | 7.0 Mw | VIII | 13 | 23 | Three missing, damage to 8,700 buildings | |
| 2020-06-23 | Oaxaca | 7.4 Mw | IX | 10 | 25 | ||
| 2018-02-16 | Oaxaca | 7.2 Mw | VII | 14 | 17 | Most of casualties after a helicopter crash | |
| 2017-09-23 | Oaxaca | 6.1 Mw | VII | 6 | 7 | 7,000 displaced | [6] [7] [8] |
| 2017-09-19 | Mexico City, Morelos, Puebla | 7.1 Mw | IX | 370 | 6,011 | ||
| 2017-09-07 | Chiapas, Oaxaca | 8.2 Mw | IX | 98 | 300 | Tsunami | |
| 2015-11-23 | Guerrero | 5.5 Mw | IV | 2 | [9] | ||
| 2014-07-07 | Chiapas | 6.9 Mw | VII | 5 | 12 | ||
| 2014-05-08 | Guerrero | 6.6 Mw | VII | ||||
| 2014-04-18 | Guerrero | 7.2 Mw | VII | 1 | |||
| 2012-03-20 | Guerrero, Oaxaca | 7.4 Mw | VIII | 2 | 11 | ||
| 2011-12-10 | Guerrero | 6.5 Mw | VII | 3 | 10 | ||
| 2011-05-05 | Guerrero | 5.7 Mw | VI | ||||
| 2010-06-30 | Oaxaca | 6.2 Mw | 1 | ||||
| 2010-04-04 | Baja California | 7.2 Mw | VII | 2–4 | 100–233 | $1.15 billion | |
| 2009-04-27 | Guerrero | 5.8 Mw | V | 3 | Four houses destroyed | [10] [11] | |
| 2003-01-22 | Colima | 7.5 Mw | VIII | 29 | 300 | Severe / tsunami | |
| 1999-12-29 | Guerrero | 5.9 Mw | V | 1 | Minor damage | [12] | |
| 1999-09-30 | Oaxaca | 7.4 Mw | VIII | 35 | |||
| 1999-06-15 | Puebla | 7.0 Mw | VIII | 14 | 200 | MXN $200,000,000 | [13] |
| 1997-01-11 | Michoacán | 7.2 Mw | VIII | 1 | Damage at Arteaga | [14] | |
| 1995-10-21 | Chiapas | 7.1 Mw | VI | ||||
| 1995-10-09 | Colima, Jalisco | 8.0 Mw | VIII | 49–58 | 100 | Tsunami | |
| 1995-09-14 | Guerrero | 7.4 Mw | VII | 3 | |||
| 1989-04-25 | Guerrero | 6.9 Mw | VII | 3 | 6–350 | [15] [16] | |
| 1985-09-19 | Michoacán, Mexico City | 8.0 Mw | IX | 5,000–45,000 | 30,000 | Extreme / tsunami | |
| 1981-10-25 | Michoacán | 7.2 Mw | VIII | 3 | |||
| 1980-10-24 | Oaxaca | 7.2 Mw | IX | 65–300+ | Many | $5 million | |
| 1979-10-15 | Baja California | 6.4 Mw | IX | 91 | |||
| 1979-03-14 | Guerrero | 7.6 Mw | VIII | 5 | 35 | ||
| 1973-08-28 | Puebla, Veracruz | 7.1 ML | VIII | 539–1,000 | Thousands | Severe | |
| 1973-01-30 | Colima | 7.5 Ms | 56 | 390 | Moderate / non-destructive tsunami | [17] | |
| 1968-08-02 | Guerrero, Oaxaca | 7.3 | VII | ||||
| 1965-08-23 | Oaxaca | 7.5 Mw | 6 | ||||
| 1964-07-06 | Guerrero | 7.4 Ms | IX | 40 | |||
| 1959-08-26 | Veracruz | 6.4 Mw | VIII | 25 | 200 | Severe | |
| 1957-07-28 | Guerrero, Mexico City | 7.9 Ms | VII | 54–160 | Many | Extreme / tsunami | [18] |
| 1941-04-15 | Colima | 7.6 Mw | IX | 90 | |||
| 1937-07-26 | Puebla, Veracruz | 7.3 Ms | IX | 34 | |||
| 1932-06-22 | Colima | 7.0 Mw | VIII | Tsunami | |||
| 1932-06-18 | Colima | 7.8 Mw | VIII | Tsunami | |||
| 1932-06-03 | Jalisco | 8.1 Mw | X | 400 | Tsunami | ||
| 1931-01-15 | Oaxaca | 7.8 Mw | X | 114 | |||
| 1920-01-03 | Puebla, Veracruz | 6.4 Ms | X–XII | 648–4,000 | 167 | [19] | |
| 1912-11-19 | State of Mexico | 7.0 | VIII | 140 | [20] | ||
| 1911-12-16 | Guerrero | 7.6 | IX | ||||
| 1911-06-07 | Michoacán | 7.6 | IX | 45 | |||
| 1909-07-30 | Guerrero | 7.6 | IX | ||||
| 1907-04-15 | Guerrero | 7.7 | VIII | ||||
| 1900-01-20 | Colima | 7.4 | VII | ||||
| 1899-01-24 | Guerrero | 7.5 | VII | ||||
| 1897-06-05 | Oaxaca | 7.4 | VII | ||||
| 1894-11-02 | Guerrero, Oaxaca | 7.4 | VIII | ||||
| 1892-02-24 | Baja California | 7.1–7.2 | X | 0 | |||
| 1890-12-02 | Guerrero, Oaxaca | 7.3 | VII | ||||
| 1889-09-06 | Guerrero | 7.1 | VI | ||||
| 1887-05-29 | Guerrero | 7.3 | VIII | ||||
| 1887-05-03 | Sonora | 7.6 Mw | 51 | ||||
| 1882-07-19 | Guerrero, Oaxaca | 7.5 | IX | ||||
| 1879-05-17 | Puebla | 7.1 | VIII | ||||
| 1875-03-09 | Colima, Jalisco | 7.4 | VII | ||||
| 1875-02-11 | Jalisco | 7.5 | VIII | ||||
| 1874-03-16 | Guerrero | 7.3 | VII | ||||
| 1872-03-27 | Oaxaca | 7.4 | VI | ||||
| 1870-05-11 | Oaxaca | 7.8 | IX | ||||
| 1864-10-03 | Puebla, Veracruz | 7.3 | VIII | ||||
| 1858-06-19 | Michoacán | 7.5 | IX | "Temblor de Santa Juliana" | [21] | ||
| 1854-05-05 | Oaxaca | 7.7 | VIII | ||||
| 1852-12-04 | Acapulco | 7.8 | |||||
| 1845-04-07 | Guerrero | 7.9 Ms | "Temblor de Santa Teresa" | [22] [21] | |||
| 1852-11-29 | Baja California | 6.5 MLa | IX | [23] | |||
| 1845-03-09 | Oaxaca | 7.5 | VII | ||||
| 1837-11-22 | Jalisco | 7.7 | IX | ||||
| 1835-01-06 | State of Mexico | VII? | |||||
| 1820-05-04 | Guerrero | 7.6 | VII | ||||
| 1818-05-31 | Colima, Michoacán | 7.7 | VIII | ||||
| 1806-03-25 | Colima, Michoacán | 7.5 Ms | [22] | ||||
| 1800-03-08 | Central, Eastern, and Southeastern | VII | |||||
| 1787-03-28 | Guerrero, Oaxaca, Mexico City | 8.6 Mw | Severe / tsunami | ||||
| 1776-04-21 | Mexico City, Southern | VIII | |||||
| Stover & Coffman 1993 uses various seismic scales. MLa is a local magnitude that is equivalent to ML (Richter magnitude scale) and is used for events that occurred prior to the instrumental period. It is based on the area of perceptibility (as presented on isoseismal maps). Mw = moment magnitude scale and Ms = surface wave magnitude. The inclusion criteria for adding events are based on WikiProject Earthquakes' notability guideline that was developed for stand alone articles. The principles described are also applicable to lists. In summary, only damaging, injurious, or deadly events should be recorded. | |||||||
The 1906 Valparaíso earthquake hit Valparaíso, Chile, on August 16 at 19:55 local time. Its epicenter was offshore from the Valparaíso Region, and its intensity was estimated at magnitude 8.2 Mw. This earthquake occurred thirty minutes after the 1906 Aleutian Islands earthquake.
The 2011 Guerrero earthquake struck with a moment magnitude of 5.7 in southern Mexico at 08:24 local time on 5 May. It was positioned west of Ometepec, Guerrero, with a focal depth of 24 km (14.9 mi), and was lightly felt in many adjacent areas.
The 1995 Chiapas earthquake occurred on October 20 at 20:38 local time. The epicenter was located in Ocozocoautla de Espinosa, in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, near Tuxtla Gutiérrez. It had a magnitude of Mw 7.2, or ML 6.5. Building damage was reported. Around 70 people were reported injured. In Tuxtla Gutiérrez, telephone and electricity services were momentarily interrupted. This earthquake could be felt strongly in Mexico City and in many parts of southern Mexico. It could also be felt in Guatemala and El Salvador. The centroid mechanism is of thrust faulting with a small strike-slip component. The rupture of this earthquake propagated from NW to SE over a distance of about 30 km. The duration of the rupture was about 17 seconds. The earthquake was resulted from the internal deformation of the Cocos Plate, which is subducting beneath the North American Plate.
The 2012 Guerrero–Oaxaca earthquake struck southern Mexico with a moment magnitude of 7.4 at 12:02 local time on Tuesday, 20 March. Its epicenter was near Ometepec, in the border between the states of Guerrero and Oaxaca. With a shallow focus of 20 km, the earthquake caused strong shaking over a large area along the Oaxaca–Guerrero border and the adjacent Pacific coastline. Significant tremors were felt in areas up to several hundred kilometers away, including Mexico City and also in Guatemala. Two people were killed and over 30,000 houses were damaged or destroyed.
The 2012 Costa Rica earthquake occurred at 08:42 local time on September 5. The epicenter of the 7.6 Mw earthquake was in the Nicoya Peninsula, 11 kilometers east-southeast of Nicoya. A tsunami warning was issued shortly afterwards, but later cancelled. Two people are known to have died, one from a heart attack and another, a construction worker, crushed by a collapsing wall. It was the second strongest earthquake recorded in Costa Rica's history, following the 1991 Limon earthquake.
The 2012 Guatemala earthquake occurred on November 7 at 10:35:45 local time. The shock had a moment magnitude of 7.4 and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of VII. The epicenter was located in the Pacific Ocean, 35 kilometres (22 mi) south of Champerico in the department of Retalhuleu. The affected region is earthquake-prone, where the Cocos Plate is being subducted along the Middle America Trench beneath the North American and the Caribbean Plates, near their triple junction.
The 2017 Chiapas earthquake struck at 23:49 CDT on 7 September in the Gulf of Tehuantepec off the southern coast of Mexico near the state of Chiapas, approximately 87 kilometres (54 mi) southwest of Pijijiapan, with a Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). The moment magnitude was estimated to be Mw8.2.
The 2017 Puebla earthquake, also known as 19S, struck at 13:14 CDT on 19 September 2017 with an estimated magnitude of 7.1 Mw and strong shaking for about 20 seconds. Its epicenter was about 55 km (34 mi) south of the city of Puebla, Mexico. The earthquake caused damage in the Mexican states of Puebla and Morelos and in the Greater Mexico City area, including the collapse of more than 40 buildings. 370 people were killed by the earthquake and related building collapses, including 228 in Mexico City, and more than 6,000 were injured.
An earthquake struck the Mexican state of Oaxaca at 10:29 local time on June 23, 2020, with a magnitude of 7.4 Mw. The epicenter was 19 miles (31 km) from San Miguel del Puerto and 7.5 miles (12.1 km) south-southwest of Santa María Zapotitlán. The quake was felt by an estimated 49 million people in Mexico and Guatemala, with some tremors felt as far away as 640 kilometers (400 mi). Thousands of houses in Oaxaca were damaged and 10 deaths were reported. A tsunami warning was issued for southern Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
The 1920 Xalapa earthquake was the deadliest in Mexico's history prior to 1985—killing at least 648 people. It occurred on January 3 at 22:25 local time, during a period of political unrest in the country. Mudflows and landslides triggered by the shock destroyed buildings in rural towns across the states of Veracruz and Puebla, causing most of the deaths. The earthquake was attributed to a shallow fault in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. It measured moment magnitude 6.3–6.4 and had a hypocenter depth of <15 km (9.3 mi). The Mexican government took immediate action in the aftermath—providing assistance and establishing communication services. Severely damaged towns including Xalapa were rebuilt, while others had to be abandoned. Help to survivors also came from civil society groups, civilians, and the Catholic Church. The earthquake's aftershocks were studied by scientists to determine its seismological characteristics.
The 1979 Petatlán earthquake, also known as the IBERO earthquake occurred on March 14 at 05:07 local time in the Mexican state of Guerrero. The earthquake had a surface wave magnitude of Ms 7.6 or moment magnitude of Mw 7.4 and maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). The epicenter, onshore, was located 12 km south southeast of Vallecitos de Zaragoza.
A moment magnitude Mw 7.0 or 7.1 earthquake occurred near the city of Acapulco in the Mexican state of Guerrero at 20:47 local time on 7 September with an estimated intensity of VIII (Severe) on the MMI scale. The earthquake killed 13 people and injured at least 23 others. At least 1.6 million people in Mexico were affected by the earthquake which resulted in localized severe damage. The earthquake occurred on the anniversary of the 2017 Chiapas earthquake which measured Mw 8.2. It was also the largest earthquake in Mexico since the 2020 Oaxaca earthquake.
A major earthquake struck northern Peru on November 28, 2021, 5:52 a.m. local time with a magnitude of 7.5 on the moment magnitude scale between the Amazonas and Loreto departments of Peru. A maximum Modified Mercalli intensity (MMI) of VII was reported in the town of Santa Maria de Nieva according to the Geological Institute of Peru.
The 2022 Guatemala earthquake occurred on the early morning of February 16, 2022 in the southern regions of Guatemala. The quake measured a moment magnitude of 6.2 and reached a peak intensity of VI (Strong) on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale. Damage was widespread but light in and around the capital, Guatemala City, resulting mostly in cracked walls and rockslides.
The 1959 Coatzacoalcos earthquake occurred at 02:25 local time on August 26 near the Mexican state of Veracruz. The earthquake measured 6.4 Mw at a depth of 21 km (13 mi), and had a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). It had an epicenter immediately off the coast of Coatzacoalcos. The shallow back-arc thrust faulting earthquake damaged the cities of Acayucan, Coatzacoalcos, Jáltipan and Minatitlán. A total of 25 people died, including 10 from Jáltipan while a further 200 were injured. The Middle America Trench, a subduction zone that borders the southwestern coast of Mexico and Central America, accounts for much of the seismicity in Mexico. The eastern side of the country near the Gulf of Mexico rarely experiences large earthquakes although they have been recorded around the Veracruz area, where seismicity is higher compared to other parts of the gulf. Seismicity in the gulf is attributed to back-arc compression due to subduction.
The 1912 Acambay earthquake struck the State of Mexico on 19 November at 07:55 local time. It had a moment magnitude of 6.7–6.9 Mw and an epicenter near the town of Acambay, 80 km (50 mi) northwest of Mexico City. Up to 161 people died and there was severe destruction. It is regarded as one of the most important earthquakes in Mexico's seismological history, having been widely studied.
The 1917 San Salvador earthquake occurred on June 7 at 18:55 local time near the Salvadoran capital. The hypocenter of the Mw 6.7 was at a shallow depth of 15 km (9.3 mi), and occurred along a shallow crustal fault near San Salvador. The earthquake caused significant destruction of the city and left approximately 1,050 dead. It was followed by an eruption on San Salvador that killed another 1,100. Only behind the earthquake of 1986, it is the second deadliest in El Salvador's history.
On 19 September 2022, a moment magnitude 7.6-7.7 earthquake struck between the Mexican states of Michoacán and Colima at 13:05:06 local time. The earthquake had a depth of 26.9 km (16.7 mi), resulting in a maximum intensity of VIII (Severe) on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale. The USGS reported the epicentre was 35 km (22 mi) southwest of the town of Aquila. Two people were killed and at least 35 others were injured across several states. A magnitude 6.8 aftershock struck on 22 September, causing three more deaths.
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