Reviewed by USGSMexico115y ago
M6.7 earthquake 2 km S of San Pedro el Alto, Mexico
Tuesday, November 19, 1912, 13:55:03 UTC · 19.561°N, 99.884°W
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck 2 km S of San Pedro el Alto, Mexico on Tuesday, November 19, 1912, 13:55:03 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 6.7
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 15 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
188 kilotons of TNT
That is about 12 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 394 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
335 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Cocos and North American plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
15 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 100 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 2 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 27 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 240 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1912M6.7
Central, Acambay, Tixmadeje
19 Nov 1912 · 0 km away
202 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1864M7.0
Puebla,Veracruz,Acultzingo,Acatzingo
3 Oct 1864 · 230 km away
20 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1907M8.3
Guerrero
15 Apr 1907 · 285 km away
8 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1882M7.5
Puebla,Huahuapan,Huamuxtitlan,Xalpatlahuac
19 Jul 1882 · 273 km away
7 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1902M7.0
Guerrero
16 Jan 1902 · 217 km away
2 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1852
S. Mexico
4 Dec 1852 · 285 km away
1 deathSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.