M6.8 earthquake 256 km SW of La Cruz de Loreto, Mexico

Friday, January 2, 1931, 09:49:06 UTC · 18.707°N, 107.479°W

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck 256 km SW of La Cruz de Loreto, Mexico on Friday, January 2, 1931, 09:49:06 UTC, at a depth of 20.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.9 on November 16, 1925.

Magnitude: 6.8; Strong · mw
Depth: 20 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

247 kilotons of TNT

That is about 16 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 519 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

14 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Rivera and Pacific plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: shallow

20 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 12 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 5 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

1900M7.3
Mexico
20 Jan 1900 · 297 km away · intensity VIII
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1925M7.0
S. Mexico
16 Nov 1925 · 55 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1900M6.9
Near Coast Of Jalisco
16 May 1900 · 297 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1837M7.5
Guadalajara
22 Nov 1837 · 297 km away
1875M6.5
S. Mexico
24 Feb 1875 · 297 km away · intensity VI
tsunami

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

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