Reviewed by USGSMexico23y ago
M4.3 earthquake 223 km SSW of Barra de Navidad, Mexico
Tuesday, May 20, 2003, 06:36:29 UTC · 17.308°N, 105.393°W
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck 223 km SSW of Barra de Navidad, Mexico on Tuesday, May 20, 2003, 06:36:29 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.3
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 10 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
43 tons of TNT
That is about 1/354 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 11 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
1 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
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 177 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.01995 Colima-Jalisco, Mexico EarthquakeOctober 9, 1995 · 231 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.87 km E of Los Tepames, MexicoJune 18, 1932 · 277 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.712 km NNE of La Central, MexicoJune 22, 1932 · 240 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.621 km ESE of Coalcomán de Vázquez Pallares, MexicoApril 15, 1941 · 296 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.616 km SSW of Cuyutlán, MexicoJanuary 22, 2003 · 212 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.535 km SW of Aguililla, MexicoJanuary 30, 1973 · 285 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.246 km WNW of El Habillal, MexicoJanuary 11, 1997 · 297 km E of this epicenter
- 7.0102 km SW of Barra de Navidad, MexicoNovember 30, 1934 · 132 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 18 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 4,295 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1806M7.5
Jalisco,Oaxaca,Michoacan
25 Mar 1806 · 244 km away · intensity VIII
2,000 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1818M8.2
Morelos-Guerrero,Mexico City,Guadalajara
31 May 1818 · 252 km away · intensity X
2,000 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1941M7.6
Michoacan, Colima, Jalisco
15 Apr 1941 · 296 km away · intensity VII
84 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
- 1932M7.7
Central
22 Jun 1932 · 240 km away
75 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1973M7.5
S, Farias, Tecoman
30 Jan 1973 · 285 km away
56 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1995M8.0
Jalisco, Manzanillo, San Patricio Melaque
9 Oct 1995 · 231 km away
50 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.