Earthquakes in Mexico, 1927–2026
From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 357 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Mexico. 53 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 8 on September 19, 1985 (1985 Michoacan, Mexico Earthquake), for which NOAA records 9,500 deaths. 99 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 61 of the events here, 13,999 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 43 tsunamis that began in or off Mexico, and 6 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 10.9 m, on October 9, 1995. The deadliest, on June 22, 1932, killed 75 people here by NOAA’s runup records. NOAA lists 6 significant eruptions of 3 volcanoes in or off Mexico. The largest was Chichon, El on March 29, 1982, at 5 on the volcanic explosivity index. It killed 1,879 people by NOAA’s count.
The events
- July 17, 2026Earthquake · M 7.360 km WSW of Puerto Madero, MexicoUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- September 8, 2017Earthquake · M 8.22017 Tehuantepec, Mexico Earthquake · 98 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- October 9, 1995Earthquake · M 8.01995 Colima-Jalisco, Mexico Earthquake · 50 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- October 9, 1995Tsunami · 10.9 m hereS. Mexico · one death here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- September 19, 1985Earthquake · M 8.01985 Michoacan, Mexico Earthquake · 9,500 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- March 29, 1982Eruption · VEI 5Chichon, El · 1,879 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- March 28, 1982Earthquake · M 3.5Chiapas · 1,879 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- June 22, 1932Tsunami · 10 m hereCentral Mexico · 75 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- June 3, 1932Earthquake · M 8.11932 Jalisco, Mexico Earthquake · 400 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- June 17, 1928Earthquake · M 8.015 km ESE of San Gabriel Mixtepec, Mexico · 4 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI
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 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.
- 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