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 67mm 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 | MMI | Deaths | Injuries | Total damage / notes | Ref | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2022-09-22 | Michoacán | 6.8 | VII | 3 | 5 | Aftershock | ||
2022-09-19 | Michoacán | 7.6 | VIII | 2 | 35 | Severe damage | [1] | |
2022-06-21 | Jalisco | 2.4 | Severe damage | [2] | ||||
2022-03-03 | Veracruz | 5.7 | IV | Minor damage | [3] [4] | |||
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 | |||
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 | [5] [6] [7] | |
Mexico City, Morelos, Puebla | 7.1 Mw | IX | 370 | 6,011 | ||||
Chiapas, Oaxaca | 8.2 Mw | IX | 98 | 300 | Tsunami | |||
2015-11-23 | Guerrero | 5.5 Mw | IV | 2 | [8] | |||
6.9 Mw | VII | 5 | 12 | |||||
2014-05-08 | Guerrero | 6.6 Mw | VII | |||||
Guerrero | 7.2 Mw | VII | 1 | |||||
Guerrero, Oaxaca | 7.4 Mw | VIII | 2 | 11 | ||||
Guerrero | 6.5 Mw | VII | 3 | 10 | ||||
Guerrero | 5.7 Mw | VI | ||||||
Oaxaca | 6.2 Mw | 1 | ||||||
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 | [9] [10] | ||
Colima | 7.5 Mw | VIII | 29 | 300 | Severe / tsunami | |||
1999-12-29 | Guerrero | 5.9 | V | 1 | Minor damage | [11] | ||
Oaxaca | 7.4 Mw | VIII | 35 | |||||
Puebla | 7.0 Mw | VIII | 14 | 200 | MXN $200,000,000 | [12] | ||
1997-01-11 | Michoacán | 7.2 Mw | VIII | 1 | [13] | |||
Chiapas | 7.1 Mw | VI | ||||||
Colima, Jalisco | 8.0 Mw | VIII | 49–58 | 100 | Tsunami | |||
Guerrero | 7.4 Mw | VII | 3 | |||||
1989-04-25 | Guerrero | 6.9 Mw | VII | 3 | 6–350 | [14] | ||
Michoacán, Mexico City | 8.0 Mw | IX | 5,000–45,000 | 30,000 | Extreme / tsunami | |||
Michoacán | 7.2 Mw | VIII | 3 | |||||
Oaxaca | 7.2 Mw | IX | 65–300+ | Many | $5 million | |||
Baja California | 6.4 Mw | IX | 91 | |||||
7.6 Mw | VIII | 5 | 35 | |||||
Puebla, Veracruz | 7.1 ML | VIII | 539–1,000 | Thousands | Severe | |||
1973-01-30 | Colima | 7.5 Ms | 56 | 390 | ||||
1968-08-02 | Guerrero, Oaxaca | 7.3 | VII | |||||
Oaxaca | 7.5 Mw | 6 | ||||||
Guerrero | 7.4 Ms | IX | 40 | |||||
Veracruz | 6.4 Mw | VIII | 25 | 200 | Severe | |||
Guerrero, Mexico City | 7.9 Ms | VII | 54–160 | Many | Extreme / tsunami | |||
Colima | 7.6 Mw | IX | 90 | |||||
Puebla, Veracruz | 7.3 Ms | IX | 34 | |||||
Colima | 7.0 Mw | VIII | Tsunami | |||||
Colima | 7.8 Mw | VIII | Tsunami | |||||
Jalisco | 8.1 Mw | X | 400 | Tsunami | ||||
Oaxaca | 7.8 Mw | X | 114 | |||||
Puebla, Veracruz | 6.4 Ms | X–XII | 648–4,000 | 167 | ||||
State of Mexico | 7.0 | VIII | 140 | [15] | ||||
Guerrero | 7.6 | IX | ||||||
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 | |||||
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 | |||||
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" | ||||
1854-05-05 | Oaxaca | 7.7 | VIII | |||||
7.8 | ||||||||
1845-04-07 | Guerrero | 7.9 Ms | "Temblor de Santa Teresa" | [16] | ||||
1852-11-29 | Baja California | 6.5 MLa | IX | |||||
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 | ||||||
1800-03-08 | Central, Eastern, and Southeastern | VII | ||||||
Guerrero, Oaxaca, Mexico City | 8.6 Mw | Severe / tsunami | ||||||
1776-04-21 | Mexico City, Southern | VIII | ||||||
uses various seismic scales. MLa is a local magnitude that is equivalent to ML (Richter 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. |