Cuernavaca

Earthquakes near Cuernavaca through history

From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 6 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Cuernavaca, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. 3 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest on either list was a magnitude 8.1 on March 26, 1908 (Guerrero).

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The last 30 days · as of

USGS recorded no earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more within 100 km of Cuernavaca in the last 30 days.

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What the record holds

The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 7.1 on September 19, 2017 (1 km S of Matzaco, Mexico), for which NOAA records 369 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 20 here, back to 1538. NOAA records deaths in 10 of the events here, 708 in all. NOAA’s record here begins in 1538 with an earthquake (Mexico City). 15 of the 20 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here came before 1927. NOAA lists one tsunami that began within 100 km of Cuernavaca. NOAA lists 3 significant eruptions of one volcano within 100 km of Cuernavaca. The largest was Popocatepetl on April 30, 1996, at 3 on the volcanic explosivity index. It killed 5 people by NOAA’s count.

The events

  • September 19, 2017Earthquake · M 7.11 km S of Matzaco, Mexico · 369 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • April 30, 1996Eruption · VEI 3Popocatepetl · 5 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • March 26, 1908Earthquake · M 8.1GuerreroNOAA NCEI
  • October 18, 1837TsunamiMexico CityNOAA NCEI
  • May 4, 1820Earthquake · M 7.6 (est.)Guerrero, Oaxaca, Puebla, VeracruzNOAA NCEI
  • 1538EarthquakeMexico CityNOAA NCEI

Good to know

  • An event counts for Cuernavaca when it began within 100 km of its centre, or 200 km for an earthquake of magnitude 7 or more. Damage can reach further.
  • USGS counts here start at magnitude 6: the catalogue’s smaller quakes thin out going back, where few instruments listened.
  • NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
  • Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
  • A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
  • Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history

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