Reviewed by USGSMexico115y ago
M6.9 earthquake 33 km WSW of Puerto Madero, Mexico
Monday, December 9, 1912, 08:32:23 UTC · 14.600°N, 92.710°W
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck 33 km WSW of Puerto Madero, Mexico on Monday, December 9, 1912, 08:32:23 UTC, at a depth of 50.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 6.9
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 50 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
338 kilotons of TNT
That is about 22 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 708 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
101 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
50 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 5 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 13 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 3,023 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1902M7.5
Quezaltenango, San Marcos
19 Apr 1902 · 196 km away
2,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1773
St. Jago
3 Jun 1773 · 216 km away
600 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
- 1874M7.1
Antigua,Chimaltenango,Amatitlan
3 Sep 1874 · 217 km away · intensity VIII
300 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1773M7.5
Antigua
29 Jul 1773 · 216 km away · intensity VIII
100 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1816M7.5
Soloma
22 Jul 1816 · 164 km away · intensity IX
23 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1902M7.8
Venustiano Carranza,Chiapas,Chis,Tabasco
23 Sep 1902 · 223 km away · intensity VIII
Severe damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.