Mexico earthquakes

M5.1 earthquake 8km W of Delta, B.C., MX

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck 8km W of Delta, B.C., MX on Fri, Feb 8, 2008, 11:12 PM PST (07:12 UTC), 6 km (4 mi) below the surface.

Ciudad Guadalupe Victoria forecast More in Mexico

Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.1 (Mw, moment), moderate
Magnitude from: Southern California Seismic Network
Local time: Fri, Feb 8, 2008, 11:12 PM PST
UTC: 2008-02-09 07:12:04 UTC
Depth: 6.0 km (3.7 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 32.359° N, 115.277° W
Region: Mexico
Felt reports: 1,265
Strongest shaking: VII, very strong shaking
PAGER alert: Green
Tsunami flag: No
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

Magnitude estimates

Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.

Mag.	Scale	Computed by	Notes
5.1	Mw, moment	Southern California Seismic Network	Preferred · Final · 6 stations
5.1	Mwc, centroid moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Reviewed
5.15	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
5.1	Mwc, centroid moment	Global CMT project	Preliminary

Deaths and damage

From NOAA NCEI’s Significant Earthquake Database (record 7766), matched to this event by time and place.

Damage: Limited (under about $1 million)

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.

NOAA’s full record of this earthquake

What happened

The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.

Two bridges slightly damaged and power outages and disruption of cellular telephone service at Mexicali. Felt (VI) at Mexicali. Also felt at Ensenada, Tecate and Tijuana. Felt (V) at Calexico and Heber; (IV) at Brawley, El Centro, Holtville, Imperial and Winterhaven; (III) at Blythe, Carlsbad, Chula Vista, El Cajon, Los Angeles, Mission Viejo, Niland, Oceanside, Pine Valley, San Diego and Westmorland; (II) at Aliso Viejo, Campo, Coronado, Del Mar, Encinitas, Imperial Beach, Indian Wells, Indio, Jamul, La Jolla, La Mesa, La Quinta, Ladera Ranch, Lakeside, Lemon Grove, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, San Clemente, San Marcos, Santee and Spring Valley, California. Felt throughout southern California from Palm Springs to Calexico and from San Diego to Winterhaven. Felt (IV) at Yuma and (III) at Somerton and Wellton, Arizona. Also felt at Cibola, Parker, Peoria and Tempe, Arizona.

From the USGS event page for ci14346868. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.

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: 22.9% of gravity
Peak ground velocity: 2.8 cm/s
Map: Automatic

USGS ShakeMap: estimated shaking intensity around the epicenter — Estimated shaking intensity. Map: USGS ShakeMap.

Did you feel it?

1,265 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was V, moderate shaking.

Estimated impact

The USGS PAGER system estimates deaths and economic losses from the shaking and the population and buildings exposed to it.

Alert level: Green: little or no damage or loss of life expected

Fault motion and ground failure

How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.

Faulting: Strike-slip
Nodal plane 1: Strike 226°, dip 79°, rake 3°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 136°, dip 87°, rake 169°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 5.6 km horizontally, 31.6 km in depth
Depth from: Operator assigned
Station coverage gap: 222°, poorly surrounded by stations
Stations used: 31

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.1 and up: at least 199 in the 60 days after this one and 21 in the 30 days before it.

After

The first 60 of at least 199.

Before

Earthquakes today Mexico earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event ci14346868 (also filed as gcmtc200802090712a, usp000fygf, iscgem10525612, atlas20080209071206). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 2:48 AM UTC.