May 3, 1887 Earthquake: Bavispe, Mexico

Ref #542:

1887 May 03, 09 hr (UTC). This earthquake occurred in a sparsely settled region of Northern Sonora, Mexico. It caused widespread damage to property, 51 deaths (ref. 494 reports 150 deaths at Bavispe, Sonora), and many injuries.

Ref #415:

On May 3, 1887, 14:45 [local time], 31N, 109W, depth 80 km, magnitude 8, there was a strong earthquake in northwest Mexico, in the states of Sonora and Chihuahua. Thirty-five persons died and 39 were seriously injured in the State of Sonora alone. Bavispe was totally devastated.

At Oputo, many buildings were completely leveled, while the rest were heavily damaged and collapsed during the aftershocks; 9 residents died and many were injured; water gushed up along ditches and in the valley.

At Guhsabas and Granados, most of the buildings were destroyed. Buildings were damaged at Opocura (29" 55' N., 109" 29' W.), the center of the Moctezuma district, at Concepcion Guerrero and Ciudad Juarez (Paso del Norte). The earthquake occurred with similar force at San Miguelito [30 km southeast of Fronteras], Baserac, Guachinera, and Nacori (40 km southeast of Granados).

At Arizpe, several homes collapsed, while some other homes and the church were 'destroyed; fissures appeared in ploughland and in lowlands and water spouted from them; the ground subsided at several places; enormous blocks rolled down from the mountain tops, raising clouds of dust on the slopes. All the buildings cracked at Bacoachica; deep funnels appeared in the ground, and large cracks, spouting water, appeared in the lowlands and on the banks of the river.

At Aronteras, several homes were destroyed and still more were damaged; a mass of cracks appeared in the ground, from which water spouted in greater or lesser volume; the channel of the river dried up for an instant, but then water appeared again in abundance, and its discharge approximately doubled; clouds of dust arose from all the surrounding mountains.

The entire valley between Bocadehuachi (29" 44' N., 109" 30'W.) and Cuchuta was covered with cracks from which issued water; the ground subsided in places; the tops of adjacent mountains collapsed.

Cracks also appeared in many places in the valley between Porvenir and Agua Prieta. An abundance of water poured forth from these cracks, so that the ground became swampy and impassable.

At Janos, almost all homes were destroyed. Homes and the church suffered seriously at Galeana; the tremors lasted 20-25 seconds, The earthquake was strong at Nuevo Casas Grandes'. The earthquake was rather strdng at Ures and Santa Rosalia.

The earthquake was felt, but did not do any serious damage, at Nogales, Magdalena, Baroyeca, Buenavista, Alamos, and also, according to not quite reliable sources, at San Francisco and Masatlan.

At Chihuahua and Rosales, the tremors lasted 5-10 seconds and frightened the residents. The earthquake was rather strong at San Andres and damaged buildings; one of the nearby springs began to eject more water, mixed with colored clay; after awhile, the color and discharge of water returned to normal. The tremors were mild at Guaymas.

Near the lighthouse on Haro Cape, following the earthquake the water retreated from shore a considerable distance, and then retreated again several times with the same force. An unstable part of the hill to the west of the lighthouse collapsed from the impact of the tidal waves