QuakeScout
Magnitude4.4

Reviewed by USGSMexico48y ago

M4.4 earthquake 3 km SSW of Tuzantla, Mexico

Wednesday, March 14, 1979, 21:34:32 UTC · 19.168°N, 100.576°W

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 3 km SSW of Tuzantla, Mexico on Wednesday, March 14, 1979, 21:34:32 UTC, at a depth of 38.0 km (shallow).

Magnitude
4.4
Light · mb
Depth
38 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

60 tons of TNT

That is about 1/251 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 8 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

264 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

38 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 50 km

USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 90 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.621 km ESE of Coalcomán de Vázquez Pallares, MexicoApril 15, 1941 · 260 km W of this epicenter
  2. 7.68 km ENE of Apantla, MexicoJuly 28, 1957 · 282 km SE of this epicenter
  3. 7.619 km W of Arteaga, MexicoJune 7, 1911 · 219 km SW of this epicenter
  4. 7.612 km SSE of Vallecitos de Zaragoza, MexicoMarch 14, 1979 · 168 km SW of this epicenter
  5. 7.525 km S of Tetitlán, MexicoDecember 16, 1911 · 249 km S of this epicenter
  6. 7.535 km SW of Aguililla, MexicoJanuary 30, 1973 · 266 km W of this epicenter
  7. 7.418 km SSW of Palos Blancos, MexicoFebruary 22, 1943 · 214 km SW of this epicenter
  8. 7.310 km SW of Villa Nicolás Bravo, MexicoJuly 6, 1964 · 115 km S of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 52 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 534 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1912M6.7

    Central, Acambay, Tixmadeje

    19 Nov 1912 · 85 km away

    202 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

  2. 1941M7.6

    Michoacan, Colima, Jalisco

    15 Apr 1941 · 260 km away · intensity VII

    84 deaths$2 million damagetsunami

  3. 1964M7.3

    Guerrero

    6 Jul 1964 · 115 km away

    78 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

  4. 1847

    Jalisco,Oaxaca,Michoacan

    2 Oct 1847 · 271 km away · intensity IX

    58 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

  5. 1973M7.5

    S, Farias, Tecoman

    30 Jan 1973 · 266 km away

    56 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  6. 1864M7.0

    Puebla,Veracruz,Acultzingo,Acatzingo

    3 Oct 1864 · 192 km away

    20 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

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

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