Significant earthquakes of 1818

May 31, 1818 Earthquake: Morelos-Guerrero,mexico City,guadalajara

May 31, 1818 · M8.2 · 2,000 deaths

A magnitude 8.2 earthquake struck Morelos-Guerrero,mexico City,guadalajara on May 31, 1818. It killed 2,000 people.

Map

Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.

The earthquake

Date
May 31, 1818
Place
Morelos-Guerrero,mexico City,guadalajara
Magnitude
8.2 (Ms)
Intensity
X, extreme shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
Epicenter
19.100° N, 103.940° W
Country
Mexico
Region
North America and Hawaii

The toll

Deaths
2,000
Damage
Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
Houses destroyed
Many (101 to 1,000)

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.

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

Reference #1195 indicates: 1818 May 31. Strong in Morelos-Guerrero and destroyed much in Mexico. Greater damage in Guadalajara, Zapotlan el Grande and Colima, where there were many misfortunes.

Reference #13024 [accessed 14 April 2022] indicates: 1818 May 31. 19.1 N, 103.94 W, intensity 10 [...] more than 2000 people perished in the state of Jalisco. Many buildings collapsed in Colima, destroying much of the capital and nearby towns. In Colima more than 80 people died and 72 wounded. In Guadalajara the domes of the church towers fell. Many churches damaged in towns of Jalisco, Colima and Aguascalientes. Earthquake is associated with the great explosive eruption of the Colima volcano on February 15. Cracks opened in Tamala. In the Cuyutlan salt flats, the land was opened in many places with water. Interpretation by the Institute of Geophysics: The citations dated only as 1818 are considered here to correspond also to the earthquake of May 31 of the same year. The references dated only as 1818 also refer to the San Fernando earthquake, which coincides with the date of the santoral, although there is apparently an error in the time in Gomez de la Cortina; error that Waitz reproduces later. The destruction in Colima and the effects on the coastal towns suggest a subduction earthquake on the coast of Colima and Jalisco of magnitude greater than 7.5.

1818 May 31. Mexico, Colima (reference #1002)

1818 May 31. Mexico, Mexico and eastwards to Vera Cruz, Morelos, Guerrero, Jalisco (reference #1055)

1818 May 31. 19 N, 105 W, magnitude 8.2 (reference #13627)

Note: Reference #1143 lists 1818 March 31, 19.1 N 103.6 W, magnitude 7.5 Ms, probable this is referring to May 31 event

Sources NCEI cites

The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.

  1. #1195 Figueroa A., J. (1963). Historia Sismicia y Estadistica de Temblores de la Costa Occidental de Mexico. Bibliographical Bulletin of American Geophysics and Oceanography, vol. III, Instituto Panamericano de Geographia e Historia, Mexico, D.F. Mexico, p. 107-134.
  2. #13024 Suarez, Gerardo (2015 (?)). Catalogo de Sismos Historicos de Mexico. Instituto de Geofisica de la UNAM. Link.
  3. #1002 Lomnitz, Cinna (1974). Development in Geotectonics #5, Global Tectonics and Earthquake Risk, Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1974.
  4. #1055 Milne, John (1911). Catalogue of Destructive Earthquakes [7 to 1899 A.D.], Report of the 81st Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Portsmouth, London, United Kingdom, p. 649-740.
  5. #1143 Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (198?). Anales del Instituto de Geofisica Mexico, D. F. Mexico, p. 38-53.
  6. #13627 Rocio Castillo‐Aja, and Maria Teresa Ramirez‐Herrera (2017). Updated Tsunami Catalog for the Jalisco‐Colima Coast, Mexico, Using Data from Historical Archives. Seismological Research Letters 2016;; 88 (1): 144–158. DOI: 10.1785/0220160133
  7. #13234 Acosta, V. G. and Suarez, G. (1996). Los sismos en la historia de Mexico, Tomo I. UNAM, CIESAS. ISBN 968-16-4874-9

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

More

Significant earthquakes of 1818The 1800sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history

Sources

Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 1631.