M4.4 earthquake 133 km SSW of La Esperanza (El Zapotal), Mexico

Tuesday, October 5, 1993, 10:03:35 UTC · 14.319°N, 93.603°W

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 133 km SSW of La Esperanza (El Zapotal), Mexico on Tuesday, October 5, 1993, 10:03:35 UTC, at a depth of 43.6 km (shallow).

Magnitude: 4.4; Light · mb
Depth: 44 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area

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

32 km

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

Depth: shallow

44 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 lists 6 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.3 on October 14, 1993. 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.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 341 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 20 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 2,094 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1902M7.5
Quezaltenango, San Marcos
19 Apr 1902 · 283 km away
2,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1991M6.2
Guatemala City, Pachuta, Solola
18 Sep 1991 · 284 km away · intensity VI
25 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1816M7.5
Soloma
22 Jul 1816 · 261 km away · intensity IX
23 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1968M6.1
S Chiapas
25 Sep 1968 · 181 km away
20 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1978M4.5
Patzun
29 Jul 1978 · 284 km away
17 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
1979M6.8
Guatemala
27 Oct 1979 · 299 km away
4 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)

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

Nearby trackers