Reviewed by USGSMexico108y ago
M6.3 earthquake 5 km NE of Ejido la Piña (Maromilla), Mexico
Sunday, January 4, 1920, 04:22:16 UTC · 19.062°N, 96.739°W
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 5 km NE of Ejido la Piña (Maromilla), Mexico on Sunday, January 4, 1920, 04:22:16 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.0 on June 2, 1916.
- Magnitude
- 6.3
- 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
46 kilotons of TNT
That is about 3 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 95 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
405 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 3 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 655 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1920M7.8
Veracruz: Cozautlan, Puebla: Patlanala
3 Jan 1920 · 33 km away · intensity X
648 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1882M7.5
Puebla,Huahuapan,Huamuxtitlan,Xalpatlahuac
19 Jul 1882 · 216 km away
7 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1899M8.4
Guerrero-Oaxaca
24 Jan 1899 · 265 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1845M7.5
Oaxaca
9 Mar 1845 · 275 km away · intensity V
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1872M7.4
Oaxaca,Mexico City
27 Mar 1872 · 297 km away · intensity VII
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1897M7.0
Oaxaca: Tehuantepec
5 Jun 1897 · 234 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.