August 9, 1837 Earthquake: Acapulco, Mexico
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck Acapulco, Mexico on August 9, 1837 at 21:30 UTC. It caused a tsunami.
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
- August 9, 1837
- Time
- 21:30 UTC
- Place
- Acapulco, Mexico
- Magnitude
- 6.5 (Ms)
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 16.860° N, 99.880° W
- Country
- Mexico
The toll
The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this earthquake.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
1937. On August 9th at 16:30 at Acapulco, there was a strong earthquake which did much damage to buildings. It was not felt very strongly at Mexico City and Morelia. Recurrent shocks lasted a month almost without interruption: the strongest occurred approximately 30 hours after the earthquake.
None of these exceptional earthquakes caused any disturbances in the movement of the sea, if one ignores a few eddies and unusual currents. Flood and ebb tides were completely regular.
Montessus de Ballore, (1906), writes more definitely about a tsunami at Acapulco in 1837.
(Above from reference #415)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- July 6, 1964, Guerrero, Mexico
- July 28, 1957, Acapulco,mexico City
- October 3, 1864, Puebla,veracruz,acultzingo,acatzingo, Mexico
- March 28, 1787, San Marcos, Oaxaca, Mexico
- June 7, 1982, Guererro, Orziba, Oaxaca, Guadalupe, Mexico
- April 15, 1907, Guerrero, Mexico
- February 22, 1943, Paricutin Volcano Forms, Guerrero, Mexico
- March 14, 1979, Guerrero, Mexico
- May 11, 1962, Southern Mexico
- December 23, 1937, Ometepec, Guerrero, Mexico
- September 8, 2021, Guerrero, Mexico
- May 19, 1962, Southern Mexico
- April 25, 1989, Mexico City, Acapulco
- September 14, 1995, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Puebla, Mexico City
- January 2, 2026, Guerrero, Mexico
More
Significant earthquakes of 1837The 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 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 10025.