Earthquakes in Mexico, 2017–2026
From 2017 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 1,197 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more in or off Mexico. 7 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 8.2 on September 8, 2017 (2017 Tehuantepec, Mexico Earthquake).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded 4 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.
The latest: magnitude 4.6 on October 22 (97 km SW of El Palmarcito, Mexico). The strongest: magnitude 4.9 on October 7 (80 km SW of El Arenal, Mexico).
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. 13 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 10 of the events here, 507 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 7.3 on July 17, 2026 (60 km WSW of Puerto Madero, Mexico). NOAA lists 10 tsunamis that began in or off Mexico, and one from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 2.7 m, on September 8, 2017. NOAA lists one significant eruption of one volcano in or off Mexico. The largest was Popocatepetl on June 22, 2022, at 2 on the volcanic explosivity index. It killed one person by NOAA’s count.
The events
- July 17, 2026Earthquake · M 7.360 km WSW of Puerto Madero, MexicoUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- September 19, 2022Earthquake · M 7.635 km SSW of Aguililla, Mexico · 2 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- June 22, 2022Eruption · VEI 2Popocatepetl · one death (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- June 23, 2020Earthquake · M 7.49 km SE of Santa María Xadani, Mexico · 10 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- February 16, 2018Earthquake · M 7.24 km S of Pinotepa de Don Luis, Mexico · 14 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI
- September 19, 2017Earthquake · M 7.11 km S of Matzaco, Mexico · 369 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- September 8, 2017Earthquake · M 8.22017 Tehuantepec, Mexico Earthquake · 98 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- September 8, 2017Tsunami · 2.7 m hereS. MexicoNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
Good to know
- An event counts for Mexico when it began inside its borders, or at sea within 100 km of its coast (so one can count for two neighbours), or further out, up to 300 km, where Mexico is the nearest country.
- USGS counts are its ComCat catalogue’s earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more, aftershocks included.
- 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.
- The map frames the box around Mexico, its neighbours’ quakes included, so its count runs higher than this page’s.
- 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