June 20, 1897 Earthquake: Tehuantepec, Mexico
A magnitude 7 earthquake struck Tehuantepec, Mexico on June 20, 1897. 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
- June 20, 1897
- Place
- Tehuantepec, Mexico
- Magnitude
- 7 (Ms)
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 16.000° N, 95.000° W
- Country
- Mexico
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 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.
June 20, 1897, 3:00 [local time], 16 N, 95 W, magnitude 7. On June 5 at 19:22, a strong vertical shock occurred in Mexico with source near Tehuantepec and Salina Cruz. Tehuantepec was reduced to ruins. The streets running from west to east suffered more than the streets running north to south. Most of the residents left the city. The shock was felt in an area extending to the states of Colima and Chiapas and to the latitude of Mexico. (reference #415)
June 5, 1897. Mexico (Oaxaca), Juchitan, intensity I which corresponds to an earthquake of intensity sufficient to crack walls, break chimneys, to shatter old buildings or to produce cracks in the ground. (reference #1055)
June 5-26, 1897, cluster of earthquakes, 16 deg 27 min N, 95 deg 26 min W, depth 5 km. Destructive in Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, magnitude 7. (reference #1234)
June 5, 1897, destructive in Oaxaca. (reference #1195)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- September 8, 2017, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Tabasco, Guatemala, Mexico
- May 11, 1870, Oaxaca,zanaguia,san Francisco Ozolotepec, Mexico
- June 23, 2020, Oaxaca, Mexico
- November 29, 1978, Oaxaca, Mexico
- October 5, 1801, Oaxaca, Mexico
- August 23, 1965, Mexico City, Oaxaca
- September 23, 2017, Oaxaca, Mexico
- December 17, 2015, Cocotitlan, Mexico
- July 9, 1951, Miahiatlan, Oaxaca, Mexico
- July 29, 2014, Oaxaca, Mexico
- November 24, 2025, Oaxaca, Mexico
- January 24, 1983, Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, Mexico
- November 12, 1942, Juchitan, Mexico
- May 25, 2022, Oaxaca, Mexico
- March 22, 1928, Oaxaca, Mexico
More
Significant earthquakes of 1897The 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 6538.