October 18, 1837 Earthquake: Mexico City, Acapulco
A magnitude 7 earthquake struck Mexico City, Acapulco on October 18, 1837 at 21:00 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
- October 18, 1837
- Time
- 21:00 UTC
- Place
- Mexico City, Acapulco
- Magnitude
- 7 (Ms)
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 19.450° N, 99.150° W
- Country
- Mexico
- Region
- North America and Hawaii
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 October 18, about 16:00, another strong earthquake occurred and lasted more than a minute. It was also rather strong at Mexico City. With a hundred tremors, which were accompanied by an underground rumbling, it lasted until 22:00 on the 19th, when there were two very strong shocks, also with rumbling. Two hours later, that is, at midnight, there was a new earthquake so strong that it almost destroyed the city. Strong tremors were felt at the same time in Mexico City. Strong shocks were felt at 2:00 on the 21st and 10:00 on the 22nd, after which the frequency and intensity of shocks began to diminish, but they lasted even until the first month of 1838.
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)
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #497 Mallet, Robert (1855). Catalogue of Recorded Earthquakes from 1606 B.C. to A.D. 1850, Part III, 1784 A.D. to 1842 A.D. Report of the 24th Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, John Murray, London, 326 p.
- #415 Soloviev, S.L., and Ch.N. Go (1975). A catalogue of tsunamis on the eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean [dates include 1513-1968]. Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Nauka Publishing House, Moscow, 204 p. [Canadian Translation of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences no. 5078, 1984, translation available from Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, National Research Council, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A OS2, 293 p.]
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- September 19, 2017, Mexico City, Morelos, Puebla
- October 24, 1980, S, Huajapan DE Leon, Oaxaca, Mexico
- November 19, 1912, Central, Acambay, Tixmadeje, Mexico
- December 11, 2011, Guerrero, Mexico
- August 25, 1611, Mexico City,jalisco
- 1538, Mexico City
- March 17, 1542, Mexico City
- March 10, 1727, Mexico City,oaxaca
- March 8, 1800, Mexico City,oaxaca
- October 1, 1889, Morelos, Mexico
- September 19, 1912, Acambay-Tixmadeje, Mexico
- January 13, 1854, Tlapujahua, Mexico
- January 2, 1866, Puebla, Veracruz, Mexico
- July 30, 1667, Puebla, Mexico
- June 28, 1938, Teloloapan, 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 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 10026.