March 9, 1875 Earthquake: Guadalajara, Mexico City
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Guadalajara, Mexico City on March 9, 1875. 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
- March 9, 1875
- Place
- Guadalajara, Mexico City
- Magnitude
- 7.4 (Ms)
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 19.400° N, 104.600° W
- Country
- Mexico
- Region
- North America and Hawaii
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses damaged
- Some (about 51 to 100)
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.
1875 March 09, 19.4 N 104.6 W, magnitude 7.4. A very strong earthquake in Jalisco and Colima was felt from Manzanillo to San Blas “with sea roars and movements of the sea” (La Colonia Española, 1875). At Tecoman, the priest Vicente Pinto (AHAG, 1875) reported that the earthquake occurrence at 9:00 a.m. (local time) damaged the church and houses in the village, and cracks with water pop-ups that could be related to liquefaction at the mouth of the Armeria River. (reference #13627)
Reference #13024 states that in Mexico City, minor damage to aqueducts was reported. In Guadalajara, a city already damaged by the earthquakes of February 11 of the same year, minor damage to other buildings and houses was reported. In Mascota, Jal. it is reported that the four vaults of the church were cracked, the school was left unusable and other houses and farms suffered cracks.
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #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
- #13024 Suarez, Gerardo (2015 (?)). Catalogo de Sismos Historicos de Mexico. Instituto de Geofisica de la UNAM. Link.
- #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.
- 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
- June 22, 1932, Central, Mexico
- December 27, 1568, Cocula,jalisco, Mexico
- January 30, 1973, S, Farias, Tecoman, Mexico
- October 9, 1995, Jalisco, Manzanillo, San Patricio Melaque, Mexico
- January 22, 2003, Villa DE Alvarez, Colima, Tecoman, Jalisco, Mexico
- February 11, 1875, San Cristobal DE LA Barranca, Mexico
- April 30, 1921, Near Coast of Jalisco, Mexico
- November 14, 1573, Colima, Mexico
- July 14, 1739, Colima, Mexico
- March 2, 1896, Colima, Mexico
- November 22, 1837, Guadalajara, Mexico
More
Significant earthquakes of 1875The 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 10715.