October 2, 1847 Earthquake: Jalisco,oaxaca,michoacan, Mexico
An earthquake struck Jalisco,oaxaca,michoacan, Mexico on October 2, 1847. It killed 58 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
- October 2, 1847
- Place
- Jalisco,oaxaca,michoacan, Mexico
- Intensity
- 9 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 20.360° N, 102.840° W
- Country
- Mexico
The toll
- Deaths
- 58
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 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.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
1847, Oct 2. Mexico, Mexico and Ocotlan, Guadalajara, Oaxaca, Puebla. Intensity III which corresponds to an earthquake which destroyed towns and devastated districts. (reference #1055)
1847, October 2. Jalisco: Guadalajara and Ocotlan. Itensity III. (reference ref#1908)
1847, October. Destructive in Oaxaca. (reference #1195)
1847, October 2, between 7 and 8 in the morning. In mexico, in Chile and in Peru several cities destroyed. (reference #1532)
2 October 1847 earthquake with intensity magnitude MI of 5.7 +/ 0.4 that was locally devastating on the northern graben shoulder. It razed the villages of Poncitlan and Ocotlan in the state of Jalisco, where at least 58 persons perished. In a first-order approximation, the epicenter can be located at the center of the locations of the highest intensity (intensity of degree IX), between Ocotlan and Poncitlan, at longitude 102.84° W and latitude 20.36° N, which would imply the fault located at the surface just north of these locations to be the source (reference #13639)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- May 31, 1818, Morelos-Guerrero,mexico City,guadalajara
- March 25, 1806, Jalisco,oaxaca,michoacan, Mexico
- June 3, 1932, Near Coast of Jalisco, Mexico
- April 15, 1941, Michoacan, Colima, Jalisco, Mexico
- December 27, 1568, Cocula,jalisco, Mexico
- February 11, 1875, San Cristobal DE LA Barranca, Mexico
- May 8, 1912, Guadalajara, Mexico
- March 22, 1878, Jalisco, Mexico
- May 9, 1905, Jalisco, Mexico
- 1749, Colima, Guadalajara, Mexico City
- 1750, Colima, Guadalajara, Mexico City
- 1777, Jalisco, Mexico
- June 29, 1759, Jorullo, Mexico
- August 16, 1711, Mexico City, Colima, Guadalajara
- March 31, 1818, Mexico
More
Significant earthquakes of 1847The 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 1890.