M5.7 earthquake 201 km SSW of Barra de Navidad, Mexico

Saturday, May 20, 2017, 06:02:14 UTC · 17.489°N, 105.323°W

A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck 201 km SSW of Barra de Navidad, Mexico on Saturday, May 20, 2017, 06:02:14 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). USGS received 4 “Did You Feel It?” reports, with a maximum reported intensity of III (weak). The USGS PAGER alert is green: low likelihood of casualties and damage. It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.3 on June 7, 2016.

Magnitude: 5.7; Moderate · mww
Depth: 10 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 4; Max intensity III
Est. shaking: III; Weak (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert: Green; Impact estimate
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 75 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

5 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/3 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 11 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

7 km

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

Depth: shallow

10 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

Reports sent by people to USGS, grouped by place (most reports first). Intensity uses the Modified Mercalli scale (I–X): what people felt, not the magnitude.

Place	Intensity	Reports	Distance
Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mexico	III · Weak	1	977 km
Nanchital, Veracruz, Mexico	III · Weak	1	1160 km
Coatepec, Veracruz, Mexico	II · Weak	1	908 km
Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico	II · Weak	1	202 km

I felt it — report to USGS ↗

USGS PAGER estimate

Who was exposed to shaking

Modelled from the ShakeMap and population data. Alert level green: low likelihood of casualties and damage.

III · Weak shaking: 1.4 million people
II · Weak shaking: 13 million people

After the main event

Aftershocks within 75 km

USGS lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.7 on May 20, 2017. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

4.7236 km SW of Cuyutlán, Mexico9y ago · 37 km S of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 249 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 23 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 4,695 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1806M7.5
Jalisco,Oaxaca,Michoacan
25 Mar 1806 · 225 km away · intensity VIII
2,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
1818M8.2
Morelos-Guerrero,Mexico City,Guadalajara
31 May 1818 · 231 km away · intensity X
2,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1932M8.1
Near Coast Of Jalisco
3 Jun 1932 · 280 km away · intensity X
400 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1941M7.6
Michoacan, Colima, Jalisco
15 Apr 1941 · 280 km away · intensity VII
84 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
1932M7.7
Central
22 Jun 1932 · 219 km away
75 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1973M7.5
S, Farias, Tecoman
30 Jan 1973 · 269 km away
56 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers