M7.3 earthquake 7 km NNE of Petacalco, Mexico
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck 7 km NNE of Petacalco, Mexico on Sat, Oct 24, 1981, 9:22 PM CST (03:22 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 7.3 (ms), major
- Local time
- UTC
- 1981-10-25 03:22:15 UTC
- Depth
- 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 18.048° N, 102.084° W
- Region
- Mexico
- Strongest shaking
- VII, very strong shaking
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Deaths and damage
From NOAA NCEI’s Significant Earthquake Database (record 4932), matched to this event by time and place.
- Deaths
- 3
- Injuries
- 28
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses damaged
- Some (about 51 to 100)
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
Shaking
The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.
- Strongest estimated
- VII, very strong shaking
- Peak ground acceleration
- 48.1% of gravity
- Peak ground velocity
- 3.8 cm/s
- Map
- Automatic
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 4.3 and up: 5 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.246 km SW of El Habillal, Mexico · 16410 days ago · 33 km deep · 74 km away
- 4.510 km ENE of Petacalco, Mexico · 16410 days ago · 33 km deep · 8 km away
- 5.110 km N of La Unión, Mexico · 16402 days ago · 60 km deep · 28 km away
- 4.315 km WSW of Vallecitos de Zaragoza, Mexico · 16362 days ago · 91 km deep · 71 km away
- 4.717 km ESE of La Mira Tumbiscatio, Mexico · 16362 days ago · 104 km deep · 62 km away
Earthquakes todayMexico earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001gnv (also filed as choy19811025032215, gcmtc102581a, gcmt19811025032215, atlas19811025032215, iscgem610441). Read Mon, Sep 28, 2026, 8:32 PM UTC.