2.9ml
Mexico · UTC
Mexico earthquakes: the largest since 1900
The historical catalogue includes USGS M6+ from 1900, M4.5+ from 1970 and delivered events since the project began. It is not a complete record of all small earthquakes.
- Largest magnitude
- M 8.22017 · Pijijiapan
- Deepest
- 48 km2017 · Axochiapan
- Most recent
- M 7.32026 · Puerto Madero
- Magnitude 8 or larger
- 41900–2026
Timeline
Each dot is one earthquake in this selection; its height shows the magnitude. Select a dot to jump to its entry.
The earthquakes one by one
A selection of strong or high-impact earthquakes. Values are from the USGS catalogue; national agencies may publish a different magnitude or location. Mw, Ms and mb are different scales and not directly comparable.
- 7.6Mw
- 8.1Mw
Jalisco
- Depth 35 km · Shallow
Mexico's largest 20th-century earthquake in the USGS catalogue. A magnitude 7.8 followed on 18 June, and on 22 June a tsunami devastated Cuyutlán.
Open record - 7.6Mw
Guerrero
- Depth 38 km · Shallow
Known as the Angel earthquake: it toppled the winged Victory statue from the Independence Monument in Mexico City.
Open record - 8Mw
Lázaro Cárdenas (Michoacán)
- Depth 28 km · Shallow
The 1985 earthquake was centred off Michoacán, about 400 km from the capital, yet caused its worst destruction in Mexico City because of the soft lake-bed soils. It led to the creation of Mexico's civil protection system.
Open record - 7.6Mw
- 8Mw
- 7.6Mwb
- 7.4Mww
- 8.2Mww
Pijijiapan (Chiapas)
- Depth 47 km · Shallow
- Offshore epicentre
The strongest earthquake in Mexico in a century. It broke inside the subducting plate off Chiapas and caused severe damage in Juchitán and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
Open record - 7.1Mww
Axochiapan (Puebla)
- Depth 48 km · Shallow
Struck 32 years to the day after 1985. An intraslab earthquake 48 km deep, it collapsed buildings in Mexico City, Morelos and Puebla.
Open record - 7.4Mww
- 7Mww
- 7.6Mww
Aguililla (Michoacán)
- Depth 27 km · Shallow
The third major earthquake on a 19 September, after 1985 and 2017. The shared date is a coincidence.
Open record - 6.5Mww
- 7.3Mww
Why Mexico has so many earthquakes
Off the Pacific coast, the Cocos and Rivera plates sink beneath the North American Plate. This subduction zone produces the great earthquakes of Jalisco, Colima, Michoacán, Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas.
The sinking plate also breaks internally at greater depth beneath the mainland, as in Chiapas and Puebla in 2017. These intraslab earthquakes can be closer to central Mexican cities than the coast.
Mexico City and the earthquake alert
Much of Mexico City is built on the soft sediments of former Lake Texcoco. These soils amplify and prolong seismic waves, so a coastal earthquake hundreds of kilometres away can cause severe damage in the capital.
Since 1991 the Mexican Seismic Alert System (SASMEX) has warned the capital seconds before waves from coastal earthquakes arrive. If you hear the alert, move away from windows and follow the evacuation routes. Official reports come from the National Seismological Service at UNAM.
Frequently asked questions
What was the strongest earthquake in Mexico?
In the USGS catalogue, the magnitude 8.2 Chiapas earthquake of 8 September 2017. In the 20th century, the 1932 Jalisco earthquake (8.1).
Why do so many Mexican earthquakes happen on 19 September?
It is a coincidence. The 1985, 2017 and 2022 earthquakes happened in different places and by different mechanisms.
Why was the 1985 earthquake so destructive in Mexico City?
The city's soft lake-bed soils amplified the shaking, and many mid-rise buildings resonated with it, even though the epicentre was about 400 km away.
Known events in this window: 33 · 2026
- 1.9ml
- 1.6ml
- 4.3mb
- 3ml
- 2.2ml
- 2.4ml
- 0.7ml
- 1.8ml
- 1.4ml
- 4.5mb
- 5.1mww
- 5.2mww
- 4.5mb
- 5.5mww
- 4.9mww
- 4.7mb
- 4.6mb
- 4.5mww
- 4.6mb
- 4.9mww
- 4.5mb
- 4.5mb
- 4.5mb
- 5.7mww
- 4.6mb
- 4.8mb
- 5mww
- 4.5mb
- 4.9mb
- 4.5mb
- 4.6mb
- 6.5mww
Catalogue coverage
The historical catalogue includes USGS M6+ from 1900, M4.5+ from 1970 and delivered events since the project began. It is not a complete record of all small earthquakes.
— UTC
TimelineContinue exploring
How to look up a historical earthquake
Start with a year and narrow it down by month if you know the approximate date. Check origin time and epicentre to distinguish earthquakes in the same sequence. Older records capture mainly larger events. An increase in entries across decades can reflect better detection as well as changes in seismic activity.