Reviewed by USGSMexico97y ago
M5.9 earthquake 50 km WSW of El Quelite, Mexico
Saturday, May 10, 1930, 22:11:10 UTC · 23.412°N, 106.938°W
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck 50 km WSW of El Quelite, Mexico on Saturday, May 10, 1930, 22:11:10 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.1 on September 27, 1929.
- Magnitude
- 5.9
- Moderate · 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
12 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 26 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
119 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the North American and Pacific 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 75 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 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:
- 7.0111 km SSW of Altata, MexicoJune 12, 1922 · 164 km W of this epicenter
- 6.880 km SSW of El Huitusi, MexicoAugust 28, 1923 · 271 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.466 km SSW of Los Pozos, MexicoAugust 8, 1914 · 113 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.278 km NW of Corral del Risco (Punta de Mita), MexicoSeptember 15, 1919 · 258 km S of this epicenter
- 6.163 km SSW of El Huitusi, MexicoSeptember 27, 1929 · 278 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 1 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1854
Durango
2 Jan 1854 · 267 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.